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SOME CHINESE GHOSTS 



If ye desire to witness prodigies and to behold marvels. 
Be not concerned as to ivhether the mountains are distant 
or the rivers far away. 

KiN-Kou-Ki-KoAB 



SOME 
CHINESE GHOSTS 



BY 



LAFCADIO HEARN 

AUTHOR OF *' EXOTICS AND RETROSPECTIVES, 

"IN GHOSTLY JAPAN," ** SHADOWINGS," 

** A JAPANESE MISCELLANY " 




BOSTON 
LITTLE, BROWN, AND COMPANY 

1906 



[LIBRARY 01 CONGRt'SS 
OneCoui heceiveci 

NOV 30 1906 

711 #A. ^S'J^^f 



|CLA9b 



COPY /A. 






i<A" 



Copyright, 1887, 
Bt Roberts Brothers, 

Published October, iqo6 



THS UKIVSBSnT PKXSB, CAXBBIDOB, C. S. ▲. 



I 



PREFACE 



THINK that my best apology for the 
insignificant size of this volume is 



the very character of the material com- 
posing it. In preparing the legends I 
sought especially for weird beauty ; and 
I could not forget this striking obser- 
vation in Sir Walter Scott's " Essay on ^ 
Imitations of the Ancient Ballad " : 
*' The supernatural, though appealing to 
certain powerful emotions very widely 
and deeply sown amongst the human 
race, is, nevertheless, a spring which is 
peculiarly apt to lose its elasticity by being 
too much pressed upon," 

Those desirous to familiarize them- 
selves with Chinese literature as a whole 
have had the way made smooth for them 



vlll Preface 

by the labors of linguists like Julien, 
Pavie, Remusat, De Rosny, Schlegel, 
Legge, Hervey-Saiiit-Denjs, Williams. 
Biot, Giles, Wylie, Deal, and many other 
Sinologists. To such great explorers, 
indeed, the realm of Cathayan story 
belongs by right of discovery and con- 
quest ; yet the humbler traveller w^ho 
follow^s w^onderingly after them into the 
vast and mysterious pleasure-grounds of 
Chinese fancy may surely be permitted 
to cull a fevs^ of the marvellous flow^ers 
there growing, — a self-luminous hwa- 
wang, a black lily, a phosphoric rose 
or two, — as souvenirs of his curious 

voyage. 

L. H. 

New Orleans, March i5, 1886. 



CONTENTS 



The Soul of the Great Bell . 
The Story of Ming-Y . . • 
The Legend of Tchi-Niu . . 
The Return of Yen-Tghin-King 
The Tradition of the Tea-Plant 
The Tale of the Porcelain-God 

Notes . . • 
Glossary . . 



PAGE 
II 

29 

97 
ii5 

i43 

175 

i85 



^ 






a^^)> 



The Soul of the Great Bell 



I 



y 



She hath spoken, and her words still re- 
sound in his ears. 

Hao-Khieou-Tchoua.n : c. ix. 



^OME CHINESE 
I GHOSTS 

THE SOUL OF THE GREAT BELL 

THE water-clock marks the hour in 
the Ta-chung sz , — in the Tower 
3f the Great Bell: now the mallet is 
ifted to smite the lips of the metal 
Inonster, — the vast lips inscribed with 
Buddhist texts from the sacred Fa-hwa- 
jdng, from the chapters of the holy 

fdng-yen-King ! Hear the great bell 
espondingi — how mighty her voice, 
though tongueless!— iiCO-A^G^// All 
"^ the little dragons on the high-tilted 
eaves of the green roofs shiver to the 
tips of their gilded tails under that deep 



1 4 The Soul of the Great Bell 

wave of sound ; all the porcelain ga 
goyles tremble on their carven perchef 
all the hundred little bells of the pagoda 
quiver with desire to speak. KO-NGAI 
— all the green-and-gold tiles of thi 
temple are vibrating ; the wooden gold- 
fish above them are writhing against the 
sky ; the uplifted finger of Fo shakesi 
high over the heads of the worshippers' 
through the blue fog of incense ! KO-^, 
NGAl! — What a thunder tone was! 
that ! All the lacquered goblins on thd 
palace cornices wriggle their fire-colored 
tongues ! And after each huge shock 
how wondrous the multiple echo anci 
the great golden moan and, at last, the\ 
sudden sibilant sobbing in the ears when 
the immense tone faints away in broken 
whispers of silver, — as though a woman 
should whisper, * ' Hiai ! " Even so the 
great bell hath sounded every day for 



TT 



The Soul of the Great Bell i5 

vell-nigh five hundred years, — Ko-Ngai: 

first with stupendous clang, then with 

pnmeasurable moan of gold, then with 

ilver murmuring of ''Hiail'' And 

lere is not a child in all the many- 

Dlored ways of the old Chinese city 

ho does not know the story of the 

eat bell, — who cannot tell you why 

[Q great bell says Ko-Ngai and Hiai ! 



s 






1 6 The Soul of the Great Bell 



NOW, this IS the story of the grea 
bell In the Ta-chung sz', as thi 
same is related in the Pe-Hiao-Tou-Chom 
written by the learned Yu-Pao-Tchen 
of the City of Kwang-tchau-fu. 

Nearly five hundred years ago thj 
Celestially August, the Son of Heaver' 
Yong-Lo, of the "Illustrious," or Minj.< 
dynasty, commanded the worthy offici^ n 
Kouan-Yu that he should have a be*^ 
made of such size that the sound there 
might be heard for one hundred I 
And he further ordained that the voic 
of the bell should be strengthened wit 
brass, and deepened with gold, an 
sweetened with silver ; and that the fa( 
and the great lips of it should be grave 
with blessed sayings from the sacre 
books, and that it should be suspends I 



I 



The Soul of the Great Bell 17 



m the centre of the imperial capital, to 
sound through all the many-colored 
vays of the City of Pe-king. 
^ Therefore the worthy miandarin 
^ouan-Yu assembled the master-mould- 
ers and the renowned bellsmiths of the 
empire, and all men of great repute and 
running in foundry work ; and they 
neasured the materials for the alloy, 
and treated them skilfully, and pre- 

Eired the moulds, the fires, the instru- 
ents, and the monstrous melting-pot 
r fusing the metal. And they labored 
xceedingly, like giants, — neglecting 
Duly rest and sleep and the comforts 
3f life ; toiling both night and day in 
obedience to Kouan-Yu, and striving 
n all things to do the behest of the 
5on of Heaven. 

But when the metal had been cast, 
nd the earthen mould separated from 



yy 



1 8 The Soul of the Great Bell 

the glowing casting, it was disco verec 
that, despite their great labor and ceas( 
less care, the result was void of worth 
for the metals had rebelled one against 
the other, — the gold had scorned alli- 
ance with the brass, the silver would not 
mingle with the molten iron. There-: 
fore the moulds had to be once more, 
prepared, and the fires rekindled, and 
the metal rem el ted, and all the work 
tediously and toilsomely repeated. The 
Son of Heaven heard, and was angry, 
but spake nothing. 

A second time the bell was cast, and 
the result was even worse. Still the 
metals obstinately refused to blend one 
with the other ; and there was no uni- 
formity in the bell, and the sides of it 
were cracked and fissured, and the lips 
of it were slagged and split asunder ; 
so that all the labor had to be repeated 



The Soul of the Great Bell 19 

even a third time, to the great dismay 
of Kouan-Yu. And when the Son of 
Heaven heard these things, he was 
angrier than before ; and sent his mes- 
senger to Kouan-Yu with a letter, writ- 
ten upon lemon-colored silk, and sealed 
with the seal of the Dragon, containing 
these words : — 



*' From the Mighty Yong-Lo, the Sub- 
lime Tail-Sung, the Celestial and August , 
V — whose reign is called * Ming/ — to 
1 Kouan-Yu the Fuh-yin : Twice thou hast 
1 betrayed the trust we have deigned gra- 
ciously to place in thee ; if thou fail a third 
time in fulfilling our command, thy head 
shall be severed from thy neck. Tremble^ 
and obey ! '* 



20 The Soul of the Great Bell 



NOW, Kouan-Yu had a daughter of 
dazzling loveliness, whose name 
— Ko-Ngai — was ever in the mouths 
of poets, and whose heart was even 
more beautiful than her face. Ko-Ngai 
loved her father with such love that she 
had refused a hundred worthy suitors 
rather than make his home desolate by 
her absence ; and when she had seen 
the awful yellow missive, sealed with ^ 
the Dragon-Seal, she fainted away with > 
fear for her father's sake. And when ^ 
her senses and her strength returned to 
her, she could not rest or sleep for 
thinking of her parent's danger, until 
she had secretly sold some of her jewels, 
and with the money so obtained had 
hastened to an astrologer, and paid him 
a great price to advise her by what 



The Soul of the Great Bell 21 

means her father might be saved from 
the peril impending over him. So 
the astrologer made observations of the 
heavens, and marked the aspect of the 
Silver Stream (which we call the Milky 
Way), and examined the signs of the 
Zodiac, — the Hwang-tao, or Yellow 
Road, — and consulted the table of the 
Five Hin, or Principles of the Universe, j 

and the mystical books of the alche- 
mists. And after a long silence, he 
made answer to her, saying: "Gold 
and brass will never meet in wedlock, 
silver and iron never will embrace, until 
the flesh of a maiden be melted in the 
crucible ; until the blood of a virgin be 
mixed with the metals in their fusion.'* 
So Ko-Ngai returned home sorrowful 
at heart ; but she kept secret all that 
she had heard, and told no one what 
she had done. 



22 The Soul of the Great Bell 



AT last came the awful day when 
iV the third and last effort to cast 
the great bell was to be made ; and Ko- 
Ngai, together with her waiting-woman, 
accompanied her father to the foundry, 
and they took their places upon a plat- 
form overlooking the toiling of the 
moulders and the lava of liquefied 
metal. All the workmen wrought their 
tasks in silence ; there was no sound 
heard but the muttering of the fires. 
And the muttering deepened into a roar 
like the roar of typhoons approaching, 
and the blood-red lake of metal slowly 
brightened like the vermilion of a sun- 
rise, and the vermilion was transmuted 
into a radiant glow of gold, and the gold 
whitened blindingly, like the silver face 
of a full moon. Then the workers 



The Soul of the Great Bell 28 

ceased to feed the raving flame, and 
all fixed their eyes upon the eyes of 
Kouan-Yu ; and Kouan-Yu prepared to 
give the signal to cast. 

But ere ever he lifted his finger, a 
cry caused him to turn his head ; and 
all heard the voice of Ko-Ngai sound- 
ing sharply sw^eet as a bird's song above 
the great thunder of the fires, — ' ' For 
thy sake, my Father!'' And even as 
she cried, she leaped into the white 
flood of metal ; and the lava of the 
furnace roared to receive her, and 
spattered monstrous flakes of flame 
to the roof, and burst over the verge 
of the earthen crater, and cast up a 
whirling fountain of many-colored fires, 
and subsided quakingly, with light- 
nings and with thunders and with 
mutterings. 

Then the father of Ko-Ngai, wild 



2 4 The Soul of the Great Bell 

with his grief, would have leaped in 
after her, but that strong men held 
him back and kept firm grasp upon 
him until he had fainted away and they 
could bear him like one dead to his 
home. And the serving-woman of Ko- 
Ngai, dizzy and speechless for pain, 
stood before the furnace, still holding 
in her hands a shoe, a tiny, dainty 
shoe, with embroidery of pearls and 
flowers, — the shoe of her beautiful 
mistress that was. For she had 
sought to grasp Ko-Ngai by the foot 
as she leaped, but had only been able 
to clutch the shoe, and the pretty 
shoe came off in her hand; and she 
continued to stare at it like one gone 
mad. 

But in spite of all these things, the 
command of the Celestial and August 



The Soul of the Great Bell 25 

had to be obeyed, and the work of the 
moulders to be finished, hopeless as 
the result might be. Yet the glow of 
the metal seemed purer and whiter than 
before ; and there was no sign of the 
beautiful body that had been entombed 
therein. So the ponderous casting was 
made ; and lo ! when the metal had 
become cool, it was found that the bell 
was beautiful to look upon, and perfect 
in form, and wonderful in color above 
all other bells. Nor was there any 
trace found of the body of Ko-Ngai ; 
for it had been totally absorbed by the 
precious alloy, and blended with the 
well-blended brass and gold, with 
the intermingling of the silver and the 
iron. And when they sounded the bell, 
its tones were found to be deeper and 
mellower and mightier than the tones 
of any other bell, — reaching even be- 



2 6 The Soul of the Great Bell 

yond the distance of one hundred /f, 
Kke a peaUng of summer thunder ; and 
yet also hke some vast voice uttering 
a name, a vs^oman's name, — the name 

of Ko-Ngai ! 



The Soul of the Great Bell 27 

A ND still, between each mighty stroke 
l\. there is a long low moaning 
heard ; and ever the moaning ends with 
a sound of sobbing and of complaining, 
as though a weeping woman should 
murmur, ''HiaiT' And still, when 
the people hear that great golden moan 
they keep silence ; but when the sharp, 
sweet shuddering comes in the air, and 
the sobbing of ''Hiai!'* then, indeed, 
do all the Chinese mothers in all the 
many-colored ways of Pe-king whisper 
to their little ones r ' ' Listen ! that is 
Ko-Ngai crying for her shoe ! That is 
Ko'Ngai calling for her shoe ! " 




The Story of Ming-Y 



The ancient Words of Kouei — Master 
OF Musicians in the Courts of the 
Emperor Yao : — 

When ye make to resound the stone melo- 
dious, the Ming-Khieou, — 

When ye touch the lyre that is called Kin, 
or the guitar that is called Sse, — 

Accompanying their sound with song, — 

Then do the grandfather and the father 
return ; 

Then do the ghosts of the ancestors come 
to hear. 



THE STORY OF MING-Y 

Sang the Poet Tching-Koa : '* Surely the 
Peach-Flowers blossom over the tomb 
of Si"-Thao." 

DO you ask me who she was, — the 
beautiful Sie-Thao ? For a thou- 
sand years and more the trees have been 
whispering above her bed of stone. 
And the syllables of her name come 
to the listener with the lisping of the 
leaves ; with the quivering of many- 
fingered boughs ; with the fluttering of 
lights and shadows ; with the breath, 
sweet as a woman's presence, of number- 
less savage flowers, — Sie-Thao. But, 
saving the whispering of her name, 
what the trees say cannot be under- 
stood ; and they alone remember the 



32 The Story of Ming-Y 

years of Sie-Thao. Something about 
her you might, nevertheless, learn from 
any of those Kiang-kou-jin, — those fa- 
mous Chinese story-tellers, who nightly 
narrate to listening crowds, in consid- 
eration of a few tsien, the legends of 
the past. Something concerning her 
you may also find in the book entitled 
*' Kin-Kou-Ki-Koan," which signifies in 
our tongue : * ' The Marvellous Happen- 
ings of Ancient and of Recent Times." 
And perhaps of all things therein writ- 
ten, the most marvellous is this mem- 
ory of Sie-Thao : — 

Five hundred years ago, in the reign 
of the Emperor Houng-Wou, whose 
dynasty was Ming, there lived in the 
City of Genii, the city of Kwang-tchau- 
fu, a man celebrated for his learning 
and for his piety, named Tien-Pelou. 
This Tien-Pelou had one son, a beau- 



The Story of Ming-Y 33 

tiful boy, who for scholarship and for 
bodily grace and for polite accomplish- 
ments had no superior among the 
youths of his age. And his name was 
Ming-Y. 

Now when the lad was in his eigh- 
teenth summer, it came to pass that 
Pelou, his father, was appointed In- 
spector of Public Instruction at the 
city of Tching-tou ; and Ming-Y ac- 
companied his parents thither. Near 
the city of Tching-tou lived a rich man 
of rank, a high commissioner of the 
government, whose name was Tchang, 
and who wanted to find a worthy 
teacher for his children. On hearing 
of the arrival of the new Inspector of 
Public Instruction, the noble Tchang 
visited him to obtain advice in this 
matter; and happening to meet and 
converse with Pelou's accomplished 



34 The Story of Ming-Y 

son, Immediately engaged Ming-Y as 
a private tutor for his family. 

Now as the house of this Lord 
Tchang was situated several miles from 
town, it was deemed best that Ming-Y 
should abide in the house of his em- 
ployer. Accordingly the youth made 
ready all things necessary for his new 
sojourn ; and his parents, bidding him 
farewell, counselled him wisely, and 
cited to him the words of Lao-tseu 
and of the ancient sages : 

'' By a beautiful face the world is filled 
with love; but Heaven may never be de- 
ceived thereby. Shouldst thou behold a 
woman coming from the East, look thou 
to the West; shouldst thou perceive a 
maiden approaching from the West, turn 
thine eyes to the East.'* 

If Ming-Y did not heed this counsel 
in after days, it was only because of 



The Story of Ming-Y 35 

his youth and the thoughtlessness of a 
naturally joyous heart. 

And he departed to abide in the 
house of Lord Tchang, while the au- 
tumn passed, and the winter also. 



36 The Story of Ming-Y 



WHEN the time of the second 
moon of spring was drawing 
near, and that happy day which the 
Chinese call Hoa-tchao, or, "The Birth- 
day of a Hundred Flowers," a longing 
came upon Ming-Y to see his parents ; 
and he opened his heart to the good 
Tchang, who not only gave him the 
permission he desired, but also pressed 
into his hand a silver gift of two ounces, 
thinking that the lad might wish to 
bring some little memento to his father 
and mother. For it is the Chinese 
custom, on the feast of Hoa-tchao, to 
make presents to friends and relations. 
That day all the air was drowsy with 
blossom perfume, and vibrant with the 
droning of bees. It seemed to Ming-Y 
that the path he followed had not been 



The Story of MIng-Y 87 

trodden by any other for many long 
years ; the grass was tall upon it ; vast 
trees on either side interlocked their 
mighty and moss-grown arms above 
him, beshadowing the way ; but the 
leafy obscurities quivered with bird- 
song, and the deep vistas of the wood 
were glorified by vapors of gold, and 
odorous with flower-breathings as a 
temple with incense. The dreamy joy 
of the day entered into the heart of 
Ming-Y ; and he sat him down among 
the young blossoms, under the branches 
swaying against the violet sky, to drink 
in the perfume and the light, and to 
enjoy the great sweet silence. Even 
while thus reposing, a sound caused 
him to turn his eyes toward a shady 
place where wild peach-trees were in 
bloom ; and he beheld a young woman, 
beautiful as the pinkening blossoms 



38 The Story of Ming-Y 

themselves, trying to hide among them. 
Though he looked for a moment only, 
Ming-Y could not avoid discerning the 
loveliness of her face, the golden purity 
of her complexion, and the brightness 
of her long eyes, that sparkled under 
a pair of browns as daintily curved as 
the wrings of the silkw^orm butterfly 
outspread. Ming-Y at once turned his 
gaze avy^ay, and, rising quickly, pro- 
ceeded on his journey. But so much 
embarrassed did he feel at the idea of 
those charming eyes peeping at him 
through the leaves, that he suffered the 
money he had been carrying in his sleeve 
to fall, w^ithout being aware of it. A 
few moments later he heard the patter 
of light feet running behind him, and 
a woman's voice calling him by name. 
Turning his face in great surprise, he 
saw a comely servant-maid, who said 



The Story of Ming-Y 89 

to him, "Sir, my mistress bade me 
pick up and return you this silver 
which you dropped upon the road." 
Ming-Y thanked the girl gracefully, 
and requested her to convey his com- 
pliments to her mistress. Then he 
proceeded on his way through the per- 
fumed silence, athwart the shadows 
that dreamed along the forgotten path, 
dreaming himself also, and feeling his 
heart beating with strange quickness at 
the thought of the beautiful being that 
he had seen. 



ho The Story of Ming-Y 



IT was just such another day when 
Ming-Y, returning by the same path, 
paused once more at the spot where 
the gracious figure had momentarily 
appeared before him. But this time 
he was surprised to perceive, through 
a long vista of immense trees, a dwell- 
ing that had previously escaped his 
notice, — a country residence, not large, 
yet elegant to an unusual degree. The 
bright blue tiles of its curved and 
serrated double roof, rising above the 
foliage, seemed to blend their color 
with the luminous azure of the day; 
the green-and-gold designs of its carven 
porticos were exquisite artistic mock- 
eries of leaves and flowers bathed in 
sunshine. And at the summit of ter- 
race-steps before it, guarded by great 



The Story of Ming-Y Ai 

porcelain tortoises, Ming-Y saw stand- 
ing the mistress of the mansion, — the 
idol of his passionate fancy, — accom- 
panied by the same waiting-maid who 
had borne to her his message of grati- 
tude. While Ming-Y looked, he per- 
ceived that their eyes were upon him ; 
they smiled and conversed together 
as if speaking about him ; and, shy 
though he was, the youth found cour- 
age to salute the fair one from a 
distance. To his astonishment, the 
young servant beckoned him to ap- 
proach; and opening a rustic gate 
half veiled by trailing plants bear- 
ing crimson flowers, Ming-Y advanced 
along the verdant alley leading to 
the terrace, with mingled feelings of 
surprise and timid joy. As he drew 
near, the beautiful lady withdrew from 
sight; but the maid waited at the 



42 The Story of Ming-Y 

broad steps to receive him, and said as 
he ascended : 

"Sir, my mistress understands you 
wish to thank her for the trifling ser- 
vice she recently bade me do you, and 
requests that you will enter the house, 
as she knows you already by repute, 
and desires to have the pleasure of bid- 
ding you good-day/' 

Ming-Y entered bashfully, his feet 
making no sound upon a matting elas- 
tically soft as forest moss, and found 
himself in a reception-chamber vast, 
cool, and fragrant with scent of blos- 
soms freshly gathered. A delicious 
quiet pervaded the mansion ; shadows 
of flying birds passed over the bands of 
light that fell through the half-blinds 
of bamboo ; great butterflies, with pin- 
ions of fiery color, found their way in, 
to hover a moment about the painted 



The Story of Ming-Y 43 

vases, and pass out again into the 
mysterious woods. And noiselessly as 
they, the young mistress of the mansion 
entered by another door, and kindly 
greeted the boy, who lifted his hands to 
his breast and bowed low in salutation. 
She was taller than he had deemed her, 
and supplely-slender as a beauteous lily ; 
her black hair was interwoven with the 
creamy blossoms of the chu-sha-kih ; 
her robes of pale silk took shifting tints 
when she moved, as vapors change hue 
with the changing of the light. 

"If I be not mistaken," she said, 
when both had seated themselves after 
having exchanged the customary formal- 
ities of politeness, "my honored visitor 
is none other than Tien-chou, surnamed 
Ming-Y, educator of the children of my 
respected relative, the High Commis- 
sioner Tchang. As the family of Lord 



44 The Story of Ming-Y 

Tchang is my family also, I cannot but 
consider the teacher of his children as 
one of my own kin. " 

"Lady," replied Ming-Y, not a little 
astonished, "may I dare to inquire the 
name of your honored family, and to 
ask the relation which you hold to my 
noble patron?" 

"The name of my poor family," 
responded the comely lady, "is Ping, 
— an ancient family of the city of 
Tching-tou. I am the daughter of a 
certain Sie of Moun-hao ; Sie is my 
name, likewise ; and I was married to a 
young man of the Ping family, whose 
name was Khang. By this marriage I 
became related to your excellent patron ; 
but my husband died soon after our 
wedding, and I have chosen this solitary 
place to reside in during the period of 
my widowhood." 



The Story of Ming-Y 45 

There was a drowsy music in her 
voice, as of the melody of brooks, the 
murmurings of spring; and such a 
strange grace in the manner of her 
speech as Ming-Y had never heard be- 
fore. Yet, on learning that she was a 
widow, the youth would not have pre- 
sumed to remain long in her presence 
without a formal invitation ; and after 
having sipped the cup of rich tea pre- 
sented to him, he arose to depart. Sie 
would not suffer him to go so quickly. 

*'Nay, friend," she said; "stay yet 
a little while in my house, I pray you ; 
for, should your honored patron ever 
learn that you had been here, and that 
I had not treated you as a respected 
guest, and regaled you even as I would 
him, I know that he would be greatly 
angered. Remain at least to supper." 

So Ming-Y remained, rejoicing se- 



46 The Story of Ming-Y 

cretly In his heart, for Sie seemed to 
him the fairest and sweetest being he 
had ever known, and he felt that he 
loved her even more than his father and 
his mother. And while they talked the 
long shadows of the evening slowly 
blended into one violet darkness ; the 
great citron-light of the sunset faded 
out ; and those starry beings that are 
called the Three Councillors, who pre- 
side over life and death and the des- 
tinies of men, opened their cold bright 
eyes in the northern sky. Within the 
mansion of Sie the painted lanterns 
were lighted ; the table was laid for 
the evening repast; and Ming-Y took 
his place at it, feeling little inclination 
to eat, and thinking only of the charm- 
ing face before him. Observing that 
he scarcely tasted the dainties laid upon 
his plate, Sie pressed her young guest 



The Story of Ming-Y 47 

to partake of wine ; and they drank 
several cups together. It was a purple 
wine, so cool that the cup into which 
it was poured became covered with 
vapory dew ; yet it seemed to warm 
the veins with strange fire. To Ming-Y, 
as he drank, all things became more 
luminous as by enchantment ; the walls 
of the chamber appeared to recede, 
and the roof to heighten ; the lamps 
glowed like stars in their chains, and 
the voice of Sie floated to the boy's 
ears like some far melody heard through 
the spaces of a drowsy night. His 
heart swelled ; his tongue loosened ; 
and words flitted from his lips that he 
had fancied he could never dare to 
utter. Yet Sie sought not to restrain 
him ; her lips gave no smile ; but her 
long bright eyes seemed to laugh with 
pleasure at his words of praise, and to 



^8 The Story of Ming-Y 

return his gaze of passionate admira- 
tion with affectionate interest. 

**I have heard," she said, "of your 
rare talent, and of your many elegant 
accomplishments. I know how to sing 
a little, although I cannot claim to 
possess any musical learning ; and now 
that I have the honor of finding my- 
self in the society of a musical pro- 
fessor, I will venture to lay modesty 
aside, and beg you to sing a few songs 
with me. I should deem it no small 
gratification if you would condescend 
to examine my musical compositions." 

"The honor and the gratification, 
dear lady," replied Ming-Y, "will be 
mine; and I feel helpless to express 
the gratitude which the offer of so rare 
a favor deserves." 

The serving-maid, obedient to the 
summons of a little silver gong, brought 



The Story of Ming-Y Ag 

in the music and retired. Ming-Y took 
the manuscripts, and began to examine 
them with eager deKght. The paper 
upon which they were written had a 
pale yellow tint, and was light as a 
fabric of gossamer ; but the characters 
were antiquely beautiful, as though they 
had been traced by the brush of Hei- 
song Che-Tchoo himself, — that divine 
Genius of Ink, who is no bigger than 
a fly; and the signatures attached to 
the compositions were the signatures 
of Youen-tchin, Kao-pien, and Thou- 
mou, — mighty poets and miusicians of 
the dynasty of Thang! Ming-Y could 
not repress a scream of delight at the 
sight of treasures so inestimable and 
so unique; scarcely could he summon 
resolution enough to permit them to 
leave his hands even for a moment. 
"0 Lady!" he cried, "these are 
4 



5o The Story of Ming-Y 

veritably priceless things, surpassing in 
worth the treasures of all kings. This 
indeed is the handwriting of those 
great masters who sang five hundred 
years before our birth. How marvel- 
lously it has been preserved! Is not 
this the wondrous ink of which it was 
written : Po-nien-jou-chi, i-tien-jou-ki, — 
' After centuries I remain firm as 
stone, and the letters that I make like 
lacquer ' ? And how divine the charm 
of this composition ! — the song of Kao- 
pien, prince of poets, and Governor of 
Sze-tchouen five hundred years ago! " 

*'Kao-pien! darling Kao-pien!" 
murmured Sie, with a singular light in 
her eyes. " Kao-pien is also my favor- 
ite. Dear Ming-Y, let us chant his 
verses together, to the melody of old, 
— the music of those grand years when 
men were nobler and wiser than to-day. " 



The Story of Ming-Y 5i 

And their voices rose through the 
perfumed night like the voices of the 
wonder-birds, — of the Fung-hoang, — 
blending together in liquid sweetness. 
Yet a moment, and Ming-Y, overcome 
by the witchery of his companion's 
voice, could only listen in speechless 
ecstasy, while the lights of the chamber 
swam dim before his sight, and tears of 
pleasure trickled down his cheeks. 

So the ninth hour passed ; and they 
continued to converse, and to drink 
the cool purple wine, and to sing the 
songs of the years of Thang, until 
far into the night. More than once 
Ming-Y thought of departing ; but each 
time Sie would begin, in that silver- 
sweet voice of hers, so wondrous a story 
of the great poets of the past, and of 
the women whom they loved, that he 
became as one entranced ; or she would 



52 The Story of Ming-Y 

sing for him a song so strange that all 
his senses seemed to die except that of 
hearing. And at last, as she paused to 
pledge him in a cup of wine, Ming-Y 
could not restrain himself from putting 
his arm about her round neck and 
drawing her dainty head closer to him, 
and kissing the lips that were so much 
ruddier and sweeter than the wine. 
Then their lips separated no more ; — 
the night grew old, and they knew 
it not. 



The Story of Ming-Y 53 

THE birds awakened, the flowers 
opened their eyes to the rising 
sun, and Ming-Y found himself at last 
compelled to bid his lovely enchantress 
farewell. Sie, accompanying him to 
the terrace, kissed him fondly and said, 
"Dear boy, come hither as often as 
you are able, — as often as your heart 
whispers you to come. I know that 
you are not of those without faith and 
truth, who betray secrets ; yet, being 
so young, you might also be sometimes 
thoughtless ; and I pray you never to 
forget that only the stars have been the 
witnesses of our love. Speak of it to 
no living person, dearest; and take 
with you this little souvenir of our 
happy night." 

And she presented him with an ex- 
quisite and curious little thing, — a 



54 The Story of Ming-Y 

paper-weight in hkeness of a couchant 
hon, wrought from a jade-stone yellow 
as that created by a rainbow in honor 
of Kong-fu-tze. Tenderly the boy 
kissed the gift and the beautiful hand 
that gave it. " May the Spirits punish 
me," he vowed, "if ever I knowingly 
give you cause to reproach me, sweet- 
heart!" And they separated with 
mutual vows. 

That morning, on returning to the 
house of Lord Tchang, Ming-Y told the 
first falsehood which had ever passed 
his lips. He averred that his mother 
had requested him thenceforward to 
pass his nights at home, now that the 
weather had become so pleasant ; for, 
though the way was somewhat long, 
he was strong and active, and needed 
both air and healthy exercise. Tchang 
believed all Ming-Y said, and offered no 



The Story of Ming-Y 55 

objection. Accordingly the lad found 
himself enabled to pass all his evenings 
at the house of the beautiful Sie. Each 
night they devoted to the same pleas- 
ures w^hich had made their first ac- 
quaintance so charming : they sang and 
conversed by turns ; they played at 
chess, — the learned game invented by 
Wu-Wang, w^hich is an imitation of 
VN^ar; they composed pieces of eighty 
rhymes upon the flowers, the trees, 
the clouds, the streams, the birds, the 
bees. But in all accomplishments Sie 
far excelled her young sweetheart. 
Whenever they played at chess, it 
was always Ming-Y's general, Ming-Y' s 
tsiang, who was surrounded and van- 
quished; when they composed verses, 
Sie's poems were ever superior to his 
in harmony of word-coloring, in ele- 
gance of form, in classic loftiness of 



56 The Story of Ming-Y 

thought. And the themes they selected 
were always the most difficult, — those 
of the poets of the Thang dynasty ; the 
songs they sang were also the songs 
of five hundred years before, — the 
songs of Youen-tchin, of Thou-mou, of 
Kao-pien above all, high poet and ruler 
of the province of Sze-tchouen. 

So the summer waxed and waned 
upon their love, and the luminous au- 
tumn came, with its vapors of phantom 
gold, its shadows of magical purple. 



The Story of Ming-Y 5; 



THEN it unexpectedly happened that 
the father of Ming-Y, meeting his 
son's employer at Tching-tou, was asked 
by him: "Why must your boy con- 
tinue to travel every evening to the 
city, now that the wdnter is approach- 
ing? The way is long, and when he re- 
turns in the morning he looks fordone 
with weariness. Why not permit him 
to slumber in my house during the 
season of snow?" And the father of 
Ming-Y, greatly astonished, responded : 
' ' Sir, my son has not visited the city, 
nor has he been to our house all this 
summer. I fear that he must have 
acquired wicked habits, and that he 
passes his nights in evil company, — 
perhaps in gaming, or in drinking 
with the women of the flower-boats." 



58 The Story of Ming-Y 

But the High Commissioner returned : 
' ' Nay ! that is not to be thought of. 
I have never found any evil in the boy, 
and there are no taverns nor flower- 
boats nor any places of dissipation in 
our neighborhood. No doubt Ming-Y 
has found some amiable youth of his 
ovv^n age vs^ith w^hom to spend his even- 
ings, and only told me an untruth for 
fear that I would not otherwise permit 
him to leave my residence. I beg that 
you will say nothing to him until I 
shall have sought to discover this mys- 
tery ; and this very evening I shall send 
my servant to follow after him, and to 
watch whither he goes." 

Pelou readily assented to this propo- 
sal, and promising to visit Tchang 
the following morning, returned to his 
home. In the evening, when Ming-Y 
left the house of Tchang, a servant 



The Story of Ming-Y 69 

followed him unobserved at a distance. 
But on reaching the most obscure 
portion of the road, the boy disap- 
peared from sight as suddenly as 
though the earth had swallowed him. 
After having long sought after him 
in vain, the domestic returned in great 
bewilderment to the house, and related 
what had taken place. Tchang imme- 
diately sent a messenger to Pelou. 

In the mean time Ming-Y, entering 
the chamber of his beloved, was sur- 
prised and deeply pained to find her 
in tears. "Sweetheart," she sobbed, 
wreathing her arms around his neck, 
** we are about to be separated forever, 
because of reasons which I cannot tell 
you. From the very first I knew this 
must come to pass ; and nevertheless 
it seemed to me for the moment so 
cruelly sudden a loss, so unexpected 



6o The Story of Ming-Y 

a misfortune, that I could not prevent 
myself from weeping ! After this night 
we shall never see each other again, 
beloved, and I know that you will not 
be able to forget me while you live ; 
but I know also that you will become 
a great scholar, and that honors and 
riches will be showered upon you, and 
that some beautiful and loving woman 
will console you for my loss. And 
now let us speak no more of grief; but 
let us pass this last evening joyously, 
so that your recollection of me may 
not be a painful one, and that you 
may remember my laughter rather than 
my tears." 

She brushed the bright drops away, 
and brought wine and music and the 
melodious kin of seven silken strings, 
and would not suffer Ming-Y to speak 
for one moment of the coming separa- 



The Story of Ming-Y 6i 

tion. And she sang him an ancient 
song about the calmness of summer 
lakes reflecting the blue of heaven 
only, and the calmness of the heart 
also, before the clouds of care and of 
grief and of weariness darken its little 
world. Soon they forgot their sorrow 
in the joy of song and wine ; and those 
last hours seemed to Ming-Y more 
celestial than even the hours of their 
first bliss. 

But when the yellow beauty of morn- 
ing came their sadness returned, and 
they wept. Once more Sie accompa- 
nied her lover to the terrace-steps ; and 
as she kissed him farewell, she pressed 
into his hand a parting gift, — a little 
brush-case of agate, wonderfully chis- 
elled, and worthy the table of a great 
poet. And they separated forever, 
shedding many tears. 



62 The Story of Ming-Y 

STILL Ming-Y could not believe it 
was an eternal parting. " No ! " 
he thought, ' ' I shall visit her to- 
morrow^ ; for I cannot novv^ live v\^ith- 
out her, and I feel assured that she 
cannot refuse to receive me." Such 
vv^ere the thoughts that filled his mind 
as he reached the house of Tchang, to 
find his father and his patron standing 
on the porch aw^aiting him. Ere he 
could speak a w^ord, Pelou demanded: 
"Son, in what place have you been 
passing your nights?" 

Seeing that his falsehood had been 
discovered, Ming-Y dared not make 
any reply, and remained abashed and 
silent, with boAved head, in the pres- 
ence of his father. Then Pelou, strik- 
ing the boy violently with his staff, 
commanded him to divulge the secret ; 



The Story of Ming-Y 63 

and at last, partly through fear of his 
parent, and partly through fear of the 
law which ordains that ' ' the son refus- 
ing to obey his father shall be punished with 
one hundred blows of the bamboo,'' Ming-Y 
faltered out the history of his love. 

Tchang changed color at the boy's 
tale. "Child," exclaimed the High 
Commissioner, "I have no relative of 
the name of Ping ; I have never heard 
of the woman you describe ; I have 
never heard even of the house which 
you speak of. But I know also that 
you cannot dare to lie to Pelou, your 
honored father; there is some strange 
delusion in all this affair." 

Then Ming-Y produced the gifts that 
Sie had given him, — the lion of yellow 
jade, the brush-case of carven agate, 
also some original compositions made 
by the beautiful lady herself. The as- 



64 The Story of Ming-Y 

tonishment of Tchang was now shared 
by Pelou. Both observed that the 
brush-case of agate and the hon of 
jade bore the appearance of objects 
that had lain buried in the earth for 
centuries, and were of a workmanship 
beyond the power of Kving man to imi- 
tate; while the compositions proved 
to be veritable master-pieces of poetry, 
written in the style of the poets of the 
dynasty of Thang. 

*' Friend Pelou," cried the High 
Commissioner, ' ' let us immediately ac- 
company the boy to the place where 
he obtained these miraculous things, 
and apply the testimony of our senses 
to this mystery. The boy is no doubt 
telling the truth; yet his story passes 
my understanding." And all three pro- 
ceeded toward the place of the habita- 
tion of Sie. 



The Story of Ming-Y 65 



BUT when they had arrived at the 
shadiest part of the road, where 
the perfumes were most sweet and the 
mosses were greenest, and the fruits 
of the wild peach flushed most pinkly, 
Ming-Y, gazing through the groves, 
uttered a cry of dismay. Where the 
azure-tiled roof had risen against the 
sky, there 'was now only the hlue empti- 
ness of air; where the green-and-gold 
facade had been, there was visible only 
the flickering of leaves under the aureate 
autumn light; and where the broad 
terrace had extended, could be dis- 
cerned only a ruin, — a tomb so an- 
cient, so deeply gnawed by moss, that 
the name graven upon it was no longer 
decipherable. The home of Sie had 
disappeared I 



66 The Story of Ming-Y 

All suddenly the High Commis- 
sioner smote his forehead with his 
hand, and turning to Pelou, recited 
the well-known verse of the ancient 
poet Tching-Kou : — 

' ' Surely the peach-flowers blossom over 
thetomhofSIE-THAOr 

"Friend Pelou," continued Tchang, 
* * the beauty who bewitched your son 
was no other than she whose tomb 
stands there in ruin before us ! Did 
she not say she was wedded to Ping- 
Khang? There is no family of that 
name, but Ping-Khang is indeed the 
name of a broad alley in the city near. 
There was a dark riddle in all that she 
said. She called herself Sie of Moun- 
Hiao : there is no person of that name ; 
there is no street of that name; but 
the Chinese characters Moun and hiao, 
placed together, form the character 



The Story of Ming-Y 67 

* Kiao . ' Listen ! The alley Ping-Khang , 
situated in the street Kiao, was the 
place where dwelt the great courtesans 
of the dynasty of Thang I Did she 
not sing the songs of Kao-pien? And 
upon the brush-case and the paper- 
weight she gave your son, are there 
not characters which read, * Pure object 
of art belonging to Kao, of the city of 
Pho-hai ' ? That city no longer exists ; 
but the memory of Kao-pien remains, 
for he was governor of the province of 
Sze-tchouen, and a mighty poet. And 
when he dwelt in the land of Ghou, 
was not his favorite the beautiful wan- 
ton Sie, — Sie-Thao, unmatched for 
grace among all the women of her 
day? It was he who made her a gift 
of those manuscripts of song; it was 
he who gave her those objects of rare 
art. Sie-Thao died not as other women 



68 The Story of Ming-Y 

die. Her limbs may have crumbled to 
dust ; yet something of her still lives 
in this deep wood, — her Shadow^ still 
haunts this shadow^y place. " 

Tchang ceased to speak. A vague 
fear fell upon the three. The thin 
mists of the morning made dim the 
distances of green, and deepened the 
ghostly beauty of the woods. A faint 
breeze passed by, leaving a trail of 
blossom-scent, — a last odor of dying 
flowers, — thin as that which clings to 
the silk of a forgotten robe; and, as 
it passed, the trees seemed to whisper 
across the silence, '' Sie-Thao.'' 



The Story of Ming-Y 69 

FEARING greatly for his son, Pelou 
sent the lad away at once to the 
city of Kwang-tchau-fu. And there, in 
after years, Ming-Y obtained high digni- 
ties and honors by reason of his talents 
and his learning; and he married the 
daughter of an illustrious house, by 
whom he became the father of sons 
and daughters famous for their virtues 
and their accomplishments. Never 
could he forget Sie-Thao; and yet it 
is said that he never spoke of her, — 
not even when his children begged 
him to tell them the story of two 
beautiful objects that always lay upon 
his writing-table : a lion of yellow jade, 
and a brush-case of carven agate. 

f ^ at % 



The Legend of Tchi-Niu 



A SOUND OF GONGS, A SOUND OF SONG, THE 

SONG OF THE BUILDERS BUILDING THE 
DWELLINGS OF THE DEAD I 

Khiu tchi ying-ying , 
To a tchi houng-houng, 
Tcho tchi tong-tong. 
Sib lid ping-ping , 



THE LEGEND OF TGHI-NIU. 

IN the quaint commentary accom- 
panying the text of that holy book 
of Lao-tseu called Kan-ing-p ien may 
be found a little story so old that the 
name of the one who first told it has 
been forgotten for a thousand years, 
yet so beautiful that it lives still in the 
memory of four hundred millions of 
people, like a prayer that, once learned, 
is forever remembered. The Chinese 
writer makes no mention of any city 
nor of any province, although even in 
the relation of the most ancient tradi- 
tions such an omission is rare ; we are 
only told that the name of the hero 



7^ The Legend of Tchi-Niu 

of the legend was Tong-yong, and 
that he hved in the years of the great 
dynasty of Han, some twenty centuries 
ago. 



The Legend of Tchi-Niu 75 



TONG-YONG'S mother had died 
while he was yet an infant; and 
when he became a youth of nineteen 
years his father also passed away, leav- 
ing him utterly alone in the world, 
and without resources of any sort; for, 
being a very poor man, Tong's father 
had put himself to great straits to edu- 
cate the lad, and had not been able to 
lay by even one copper coin of his 
earnings. And Tong lamented greatly 
to find himself so destitute that he could 
not honor the memory of that good 
father by having the customary rites of 
burial performed, and a carven tomb 
erected upon a propitious site. The 
poor only are friends of the poor ; and 
among all those whom Tong knew, 
there was no one able to assist him 



76 The Legend of Tchi-Niu 

in defraying the expenses of the funeral. 
In one way only could the youth obtain 
money, — by selling himself as a slave 
to some rich cultivator ; and this he at 
last decided to do. In vain his friends 
did their utmost to dissuade him; and 
to no purpose did they attempt to delay 
the accomplishment of his sacrifice by 
beguiling promises of future aid. Tong 
only replied that he would sell his free- 
dom a hundred times, if it were pos- 
sible, rather than suffer his father's 
memory to remain unhonored even for 
a brief season. And furthermore, con- 
fiding in his youth and strength, he 
determined to put a high price upon 
his servitude, — a price which would 
enable him to build a handsome tomb, 
but which it would be well-nigh impos- 
sible for him ever to repay. 



The Legend of Tchi-Niu 77 



A CCORDINGLY he repaired to the 
SjL broad pubKc place where slaves 
and debtors were exposed for sale, and 
seated himself upon a bench of stone, 
having affixed to his shoulders a pla- 
card inscribed with the terms of his 
servitude and the list of his qualifica- 
tions as a laborer. Many who read 
the characters upon the placard smiled 
disdainfully at the price asked, and 
passed on without a word; others 
lingered only to question him out 
of simple curiosity; some commended 
him with hollow praise; some openly 
mocked his unselfishness, and laughed 
at his childish piety. Thus many hours 
wearily passed, and Tong had almost 
despaired of finding a master, when 
there rode up a high official of the 



78 The Legend of Tchi-Niu 

province, — a grave and handsome man, 
lord of a thousand slaves, and owner 
of vast estates. Reining in his Tartar 
horse, the official halted to read the 
placard and to consider the value of 
the slave. He did not smile, or ad- 
vise, or ask any questions ; but having 
observed the price asked, and the fine 
strong limbs of the youth, purchased 
him without further ado, merely order- 
ing his attendant to pay the sum and 
to see that the necessary papers were 
made out. 



The Legend of Tchi-Niu 79 



THUS Tong found himself enabled 
to fulfil the wish of his heart, 
and to have a monument built which, 
although of small size, was destined to 
delight the eyes of all who beheld it, 
being designed by cunning artists and 
executed by skilful sculptors. And 
while it was yet designed only, the 
pious rites were performed, the silver 
coin was placed in the mouth of the 
dead, the white lanterns were hung at 
the door, the holy prayers were recited, 
and paper shapes of all things the 
departed might need in the land of 
the Genii were consumed in conse- 
crated fire. And after the geomancers 
and the necromancers had chosen a 
burial-spot which no unlucky star could 
shine upon, a place of rest which no 



8o The Legend of Tchi-Niu 

demon or dragon might ever disturb, 
the beautiful chih was buiU. Then 
was the phantom money strewn along 
the way; the funeral procession de- 
parted from the dwelling of the dead, 
and with prayers and lamentation the 
mortal remains of Tong's good father 
were borne to the tomb. 

Then Tong entered as a slave into 
the service of his purchaser, who al- 
lotted him a little hut to dwell in ; 
and thither Tong carried with him 
those wooden tablets, bearing the an- 
cestral names, before which filial piety 
must daily burn the incense of prayer, 
and perform the tender duties of family 
worship. 



The Legend of Tchi-Niu 8i 



THRICE had spring perfumed the 
breast of the land with flowers, 
and thrice had been celebrated that 
festival of the dead which is called Siu- 
fan-ti, and thrice had Tong swept and 
garnished his father's tomb and pre- 
sented his fivefold offering of fruits 
and meats. The period of mourning 
had passed, yet he had not ceased to 
mourn for his parent. The years re- 
volved with their moons, bringing him 
no hour of joy, no day of happy rest ; 
yet he never lamented his servitude, or 
failed to perform the rites of ancestral 
worship, — until at last the fever of the 
rice-fields laid strong hold upon him, 
and he could not arise from his couch ; 
and his fellow-laborers thought him 
destined to die. There was no one to 
6 



82 The Legend of Tchi-Niu 

wait upon him, no one to care for his 
needs, inasmuch as slaves and servants 
were wholly busied with the duties of 
the household or the labor of the 
fields, — all departing to toil at sunrise 
and returning weary only after the 
sundown. 

Now, while the sick youth slumbered 
the fitful slumber of exhaustion one 
sultry noon, he dreamed that a strange 
and beautiful woman stood by him, 
and bent above him and touched his 
forehead with the long, fine fingers 
of her shapely hand. And at her 
cool touch a weird sweet shock passed 
through him, and all his veins tingled 
as if thrilled by new life. Opening 
his eyes in wonder, he saw verily bend- 
ing over him the charming being of 
whom he had dreamed, and he knew 
that her lithe hand really caressed his 



The Legend of Tchi-Nlu 83 

throbbing forehead. But the flame of 
the fever was gone, a deUcious cool- 
ness now penetrated every fibre of his 
body, and the thrill of which he had 
dreamed still tingled in his blood like 
a great joy. Even at the same moment 
the eyes of the gentle visitor met his 
own, and he saw they were singularly 
beautiful, and shone like splendid black 
jewels under brows curved like the 
wings of the swallow. Yet their calm 
gaze seemed to pass through him as 
light through crystal ; and a vague awe 
came upon him, so that the question 
which had risen to his lips found no 
utterance. Then she, still caressing 
him, smiled and said: "I have come 
to restore thy strength and to be thy 
wife. Arise and worship with me." 

Her clear voice had tones melodious 
as a bird's song ; but in her gaze there 



8^ The Legend of Tchi-Niu 

was an imperious power which Tong 
felt he dare not resist. Rising from 
his couch, he was astounded to find 
his strength wholly restored ; but the 
cool, slender hand which held his own 
led him away so swiftly that he had 
little time for amazement. He would 
have given years of existence for cour- 
age to speak of his misery, to declare 
his utter inability to maintain a wife; 
but something irresistible in the long 
dark eyes of his companion forbade 
him to speak; and as though his in- 
most thought had been discerned by 
that wondrous gaze, she said to him, 
in the same clear voice, "/ will pro- 
vide.'' Then shame made him blush 
at the thought of his wretched aspect 
and tattered apparel ; but he observed 
that she also was poorly attired, like 
a woman of the people, — wearing no 



The Legend of Tchi-Niu 85 

ornament of any sort, nor even shoes 
upon her feet. And before he had jet 
spoken to her, they came before the 
ancestral tablets; and there she knelt 
with him and prayed, and pledged him 
in a cup of wine, — brought he knew 
not from whence, — and together they 
worshipped Heaven and Earth. Thus 
she became his wife. 



86 The Legend of Tchi-Niu 



A MYSTERIOUS marriage it seemed, 
for neither on that day nor at any 
future time could Tong venture to ask 
his wife the name of her family, or of 
the place whence she came, and he 
could not answer any of the curious 
questions which his fellow-laborers put 
to him concerning her ; and she, more- 
over, never uttered a word about her- 
self, except to say that her name was 
Tchi. But although Tong had such 
awe of her that while her eyes were 
upon him he was as one having no 
will of his own, he loved her unspeak- 
ably; and the thought of his serfdom 
ceased to weigh upon him from the 
hour of his marriage. As through 
magic the little dwelling had become 
transformed: its misery was masked 



The Legend of Tchi-Niu 87 

with charming paper devices, — with 
dainty decorations created out of noth- 
ing by that pretty jugglery of which 
woman only knows the secret. 

Each morning at dawn the young 
husband found a well-prepared and 
ample repast awaiting him, and each 
evening also upon his return; but the 
wife all day sat at her loom, weaving 
silk after a fashion unlike anything 
which had ever been seen before in 
that province. For as she wove, the 
silk flowed from the loom like a slow 
current of glossy gold, bearing upon 
its undulations strange forms of violet 
and crimson and jewel-green : shapes of 
ghostly horsemen riding upon horses, 
and of phantom chariots dragon-drawn, 
and of standards of trailing cloud. In 
every dragon's beard glimmered the 
mystic pearl; in every rider's helmet 



88 The Legend of Tchi-Niu 

sparkled the gem of rank. And each 
day Tchi would weave a great piece of 
such figured silk ; and the fame of her 
weaving spread abroad. From far and 
near people thronged to see the mar- 
vellous work; and the silk-merchants 
of great cities heard of it, and they 
sent messengers to Tchi, asking her 
that she should weave for them and 
teach them her secret. Then she wove 
for them, as they desired, in return for 
the silver cubes which they brought 
her; but when they prayed her to 
teach them, she laughed and said, 
''Assuredly I could never teach you, 
for no one among you has fingers like 
mine." And indeed no man could 
discern her fingers when she wove, 
any more than he might behold the 
wings of a bee vibrating in swift 
flight. 



The Legend of Tchi-NIu 89 



THE seasons passed, and Tong never 
knew want, so well did his beau- 
tiful wife fulfil her promise, — "/ will 
provide'' ; and the cubes of bright silver 
brought by the silk-merchants were 
piled up higher and higher in the 
great carven chest which Tchi had 
bought for the storage of the house- 
hold goods. 

One morning, at last, when Tong, 
having finished his repast, was about 
to depart to the fields, Tchi unexpect- 
edly bade him remain ; and opening 
the great chest, she took out of it and 
gave him a document written in the 
official characters called li-shu. And 
Tong, looking at it, cried out and 
leaped in his joy, for it was the cer- 
tificate of his manumission. Tchi had 



go The Legend of Tchi-Niu 

secretly purchased her husband's free- 
dom with the price of her wondrous 
silks I 

* ' Thou shalt labor no more for any 
master/' she said, "but for thine own 
sake only. And I have also bought 
this dwelling, with all which is therein, 
and the tea-fields to the south, and 
the mulberry groves hard by, — all of 
which are thine." 

Then Tong, beside himself for grate- 
fulness, would have prostrated himself 
in worship before her, but that she 
would not suffer it. 



The Legend of Tchi-Niu 91 



THUS he was made free ; and pros- 
perity came to him with his free- 
dom ; and whatsoever he gave to the 
sacred earth was returned to him cen- 
tupled ; and his servants loved him and 
blessed the beautiful Tchi, so silent and 
yet so kindly to all about her. But the 
silk-loom soon remained untouched, for 
Tchi gave birth to a son,— a boy so 
beautiful that Tong wept with dehght 
when he looked upon him. And there- 
after the wife devoted herself wholly 
to the care of the child. 

Now it soon became manifest that 
the boy was not less wonderful than 
his wonderful mother. In the third 
month of his age he could speak; in 
the seventh month he could repeat by 
heart the proverbs of the sages, and 



92 The Legend of Tchi-Niu 

recite the holy prayers ; before the elev- 
enth month he could use the writing- 
brush with skill, and copy in shapely 
characters the precepts of Lao-tseu. 
And the priests of the temples came 
to behold him and to converse with 
him, and they marvelled at the charm 
of the child and the wisdom of what 
he said ; and they blessed Tong, say- 
ing : ' ' Surely this son of thine is a gift 
from the Master of Heaven, a sign 
that the immortals love thee. May 
thine eyes behold a hundred happy 
summers ! " 



The Legend of Tchi-Niu gS 



IT was in the Period of the Eleventh 
Moon : the flowers had passed away, 
the perfume of the summer had flown, 
the winds were growing chill, and in 
Tong's home the evening fires were 
lighted. Long the husband and wife 
sat in the mellow glow, — he speaking 
much of his hopes and joys, and of 
his son that was to be so grand a man, 
and of many paternal projects ; while 
she, speaking Httle, Hstened to his 
words, and often turned her wonder- 
ful eyes upon him with an answering 
smile. Never had she seemed so beau- 
tiful before; and Tong, watching her 
face, marked not how the night waned, 
nor how the fire sank low, nor how the 
wind sang in the leafless trees without. 
All suddenly Tchi arose without 



9^ The Legend of Tchi-Niu 

speaking, and took his hand in hers 
and led him, gently as on that strange 
wedding-morning, to the cradle where 
their boy slumbered, faintly smiling 
in his dreams. And in that moment 
there came upon Tong the same strange 
fear that he knew when Tchi's eyes 
had first met his own, — the vague fear 
that love and trust had calmed, but 
never wholly cast out, like unto the 
fear of the gods. And all unknow- 
ingly, like one yielding to the pressure 
of mighty invisible hands, he bowed 
himself low before her, kneeling as to a 
divinity. Now, when he lifted his eyes 
again to her face, he closed them forth- 
with in awe; for she towered before 
him taller than any mortal woman, and 
there was a glow about her as of sun- 
beams, and the light of her limbs shone 
through her garments. But her sweet 



The Legend of Tchi-Niu 95 

voice came to him with all the tender- 
ness of other hours, saying: ''Lo! my 
beloved, the moment has come in which 
I must forsake thee: for I was never 
of mortal born, and the Invisible may 
incarnate themselves for a time only. 
Yet I leave with thee the pledge of our 
love, — this fair son, who shall ever be 
to thee as faithful and as fond as thou 
thyself hast been. Know, my beloved, 
that I was sent to thee even by the Master 
of Heaven, in reward of thy filial piety, 
and that I must now return to the glory 
of His house : I am the Goddess Tchi- 
Niur 

Even as she ceased to speak, the 
great glow faded ; and Tong, re-opening 
his eyes, knew that she had passed 
away forever, — mysteriously as pass 
the winds of heaven, irrevocably as 
the light of a flame blown out. Yet 



96 The Legend of Tchi-Niu 

all the doors were barred, all the win- 
dows unopened. Still the child slept, 
smiling in his sleep. Outside, the 
darkness was breaking; the sky was 
brightening swiftly ; the night was 
past. With splendid majesty the East 
threw open high gates of gold for the 
coming of the sun; and, illuminated 
by the glory of his coming, the vapors 
of morning wrought themselves into 
marvellous shapes of shifting color, — 
into forms weirdly beautiful as the 
silken dreams woven in the loom of 
Tchi-Niu. 



Itjt y^>^ Ici 




The Return of Yen-Tchln-King 



Before me ran, as a herald runneth, the 
Leader of the Moon ; 

And the Spirit of the Wind followed after 
me, — quickening his flight. 

Li-Sao. 



i 



THE RETURN OF YEN-TCHIN- 
KING 

IN the thirty-eighth chapter of the 
holy book, Kan4ng-pien, wherein 
the Recompense of ImmortaKty is con- 
sidered, may be found the legend of Yen- 
Tchin-King. A thousand years have 
passed since the passing of the good 
Tchin-King; for it was in the period 
of the greatness of Thang that he lived 
and died. 

Now, in those days when Yen-Tchin- 
King was Supreme Judge of one of 
the Six August Tribunals, one Li-hi- 
lie, a soldier mighty for evil, Hfted 
the black banner of revolt, and drew 
after him, as a tide of destruction, the 
millions of the northern provinces. 

LOFC. 



loo Return of Yen-Tchin-King 

And learning of these things, and 
knowing also that Hi-lie was the most 
ferocious of men, who respected noth- 
ing on earth save fearlessness, the 
Son of Heaven commanded Tchin- 
King that he should visit Hi-lie and 
strive to recall the rebel to duty, and 
read unto the people who followed 
after him in revolt the Emperor's letter 
of reproof and warning. For Tchin- 
King was famed throughout the prov- 
inces for his wisdom, his rectitude, 
and his fearlessness ; and the Son of 
Heaven believed that if Hi-lie would 
listen to the words of any living man 
steadfast in loyalty and virtue, he would 
listen to the words of Tchin-King. 
So Tchin-King arrayed himself in his 
robes of office, and set his house in 
order; and, having embraced his wife 
and his children, mounted his horse 



Return of Yen-T chin-King loi 

and rode away alone to the roaring 
camp of the rebels, bearing the Em- 
peror's letter in his bosom. '*I shall 
return ; fear not ! " were his last words 
to the gray servant who watched him 
from the terrace as he rode. 



102 Return of Yen-Tchin-King 



AND Tchin-King at last descended 
ji\_ from his horse, and entered into 
the rebel camp, and, passing through 
that huge gathering of war, stood in the 
presence of Hi-lie. High sat the rebel 
among his chiefs, encircled by the wave- 
liofhtninor of swords and the thunders 
of ten thousand gongs : above him un- 
dulated the silken folds of the Black 
Dragon, while a vast fire rose bicker- 
ing before him. Also Tchin-King saw 
that the tongues of that fire were lick- 
ing human bones, and that skulls of 
men lay blackening among the ashes. 
Yet he was not afraid to look upon the 
fire, nor into the eyes of Hi-lie; but 
drawing from his bosom the roll of 
perfumed yellow silk upon which the 
words of the Emperor were written, 



Return of Yen-T chin-King io3 

and kissing it, he made ready to read, 
while the muUitude became silent. 
Then, in a strong, clear voice he 
began : — 

''The words of the Celestial and Au- 
gust, the Son of Heaven, the Divine Ko- 
Tsu-Tchin-Yao-ti, unto the rebel Li-Hi-lie 
and those that follow him,*' 

And a roar went up like the roar 
of the sea, — a roar of rage, and the 
hideous battle-moan, like the moan of a 
forest in storm, — ' ' Hoo! hoo-oo-oo-oo ! " 
— and the sword-lightnings brake loose, 
and the thunder of the gongs moved 
the ground beneath the messenger's feet. 
But Hi-lie waved his gilded wand, 
and again there was silence. ' ' Nay ! " 
spake the rebel chief; "let the dog 
bark ! " So Tchin-King spake on : — 

" Knowest thou not, most rash and 
foolish oj men, that thou leadest the 



io4 Return of Yen-T chin-King 

people only into the mouth of the Dragon 
of Destruction? Knowest thou not, also, 
that the people of my kingdom are the 
first-born of the Master of Heaven? So 
it hath been written that he who doth need- 
lessly subject the people to wounds and 
death shall not be suffered by Heaven to 
live! Thou who wouldst subvert those 
laws founded by the wise, — those laws in 
obedience to which may happiness and pros- 
perity alone be found, — thou art commit- 
ting the greatest of all crimes, — the crime 
that is never forgiven ! 

"0 my people, think not that I your 
Emperor, I your Father, seek your de- 
struction. I desire only your happiness, 
your prosperity, your greatness; let not 
your folly provoke the severity of your 
Celestial Parent. Follow not after mad- 
ness and blind rage; hearken rather to 
the wise words of my messenger," 



Return of Yen-Tchin-King io5 

''Hoot hoo-oO'OO-oo-oo!'' roared the 
people, gathering fury. ''Hoo! hoo- 
00-00-00 1'' — till the mountains rolled 
back the cry like the rolling of a 
typhoon; and once more the peaHng 
of the gongs paralyzed voice and 
hearing. Then Tchin-King, looking at 
Hi-He, saw that he laughed, and that 
the words of the letter would not again 
be listened to. Therefore he read on 
to the end without looking about him, 
resolved to perform his mission in so 
far as lay in his power. And having 
read all, he would have given the letter 
to Hi-lie ; but Hi-Ue would not extend 
his hand to take it. Therefore Tchin- 
King replaced it in his bosom, and 
folding his arms, looked Hi-lie calmly 
in the face, and waited. Again Hi-lie 
waved his gilded wand ; and the roar- 
ing ceased, and the booming of the 



io6 Return of Yen-Tchin-King 

gongs, until nothing save the fluttering 
of the Dragon-banner could be heard. 
Then spake Hi-lie, with an evil smile, — 

* ' Tchin-King, son of a dog ! if 
thou dost not now take the oath of 
fealty, and bow thyself before me, and 
salute me with the salutation of Em- 
perors, — even with the luh-kao, the 
triple prostration, — into that fire thou 
shalt be thrown." 

But Tchin-King, turning his back 
upon the usurper, bowed himself a 
moment in worship to Heaven and 
Earth; and then rising suddenly, ere 
any man could lay hand upon him, he 
leaped into the towering flame, and 
stood there, with folded arms, like a 
God. 

Then Hi-lie leaped to his feet in 
amazement, and shouted to his men ; 
and they snatched Tchin-King from 



Return of Yen-Tchin-King 107 

the fire, and wrung the flames from 
his robes with their naked hands, and 
extolled him, and praised him to his 
face. And even Hi-lie himself de- 
scended from his seat, and spoke fair 
words to him, saying: "0 Tchin-King, 
I see thou art indeed a brave man and 
true, and worthy of all honor; be 
seated among us, I pray thee, and par- 
take of whatever it is in our power to 
bestow 1 " 

But Tchin-King, looking upon him 
unswervingly, replied in a voice clear 
as the voice of a great bell, — 

*' Never, Hi-lie, shall I accept 
aught from thy hand, save death, so 
long as thou shalt continue in the 
path of wrath and folly. And never 
shall it be said that Tchin-King sat 
him down among rebels and traitors, 
among murderers and robbers." 



io8 Return of Yen-Tchin-King 

Then Hi-lie, in sudden fury, smote 
him with his sword ; and Tchin-King 
fell to the earth and died, striving even 
in his death to bow his head toward 
the South, — toward the place of the 
Emperor's palace, — toward the pres- 
ence of his beloved Master. 



Return of Yen-T chin-King 109 



EVEN at the same hour the Son 
of Heaven, alone in the inner 
chamber of his palace, became aware 
of a Shape prostrate before his feet; 
and when he spake, the Shape arose 
and stood before him, and he saw that 
it was Tchin-King. And the Emperor 
would have questioned him; yet ere 
he could question, the familiar voice 
spake, saying: 

'*Son of Heaven, the mission con- 
fided to me I have performed ; and thy 
command hath been accomplished to 
the extent of thy humble servant's 
feeble power. But even now must I 
depart, that I may enter the service of 
another Master." 

And looking, the Emperor perceived 
that the Golden Tigers upon the wall 



no Return of Yen-T chin-King 

were visible through the form of Tchin- 
King; and a strange coldness, like a 
winter wind, passed through the cham- 
ber; and the figure faded out. Then 
the Emperor knew that the Master of 
whom his faithful servant had spoken 
was none other than the Master of 
Heaven. 

Also at the same hour the gray ser- 
vant of Tchin-King's house beheld him 
passing through the apartments, smil- 
ing as he was wont to smile when he 
saw that all things were as he desired. 
"Is it well with thee, my lord?" ques- 
tioned the aged man. And a voice 
answered him: *'It is well"; but the 
presence of Tchin-King had passed 
away before the answer came. 



Return of Yen-Tchin-King 1 1 1 



SO the armies of the Son of Heaven 
strove w^ith the rebels. But the 
land was soaked vv^ith blood and black- 
ened with fire ; and the corpses of whole 
populations were carried by the rivers 
to feed the fishes of the sea; and still 
the war prevailed through many a long 
red year. Then came to aid the Son 
of Heaven the hordes that dwell in 
the desolations of the West and North, 
— horsemen born, a nation of wild 
archers, each mighty to bend a two- 
hundred-pound bow until the ears 
should meet. And as a whirlwind they 
came against rebellion, raining raven- 
feathered arrows in a storm of death ; 
and they prevailed against Hi-lie and his 
people. Then those that survived de- 
struction and defeat submitted, and 



112 Return of Yen-Tchin-King 

promised allegiance; and once more 
was the law of righteousness restored. 
But Tchin-King had been dead for 
many summers. 

And the Son of Heaven sent word 
to his victorious generals that they 
should bring back with them the bones 
of his faithful servant, to be laid with 
honor in a mausoleum erected by im- 
perial decree. So the generals of the 
Celestial and August sought after the 
nameless grave and found it, and had 
the earth taken up, and made ready 
to remove the coffin. 

But the coffin crumbled into dust 
before their eyes ; for the worms had 
gnawed it, and the hungry earth had 
devoured its substance, leaving only a 
phantom shell that vanished at touch 
of the light. And lol as it vanished, 
all beheld lying there the perfect form 



Return of Yen-Tchin-King ii3 

and features of the good Tchin-King. 
Corruption had not touched him, nor 
had the worms disturbed his rest, nor 
had the bloom of Ufe departed from 
his face. And he seemed to dream 
only, — comelj to see as upon the 
morning of his bridal, and smiling as 
the holy images smile, with eyelids 
closed, in the twilight of the great 
pagodas. 

Then spoke a priest, standing by 
the grave: "0 my children, this is 
indeed a Sign from the Master of 
Heaven; in such wise do the Powers 
Celestial preserve them that are chosen 
to be numbered with the Immortals. 
Death may not prevail over them, 
neither may corruption come nigh 
them. Verily the blessed Tchin-King 
hath taken his place among the divini- 
ties of Heaven! " 

8 



ii4 Return of Yen-Tchin-King 

Then they bore Tchin-King back to 
his native place, and laid him with 
highest honors in the mausoleum which 
the Emperor had commanded ; and 
there he sleeps, incorruptible forever, 
arrayed in his robes of state. Upon 
his tomb are sculptured the emblems 
of his greatness and his wisdom and 
his virtue, and the signs of his office, 
and the Four Precious Things: and 
the monsters which are holy symbols 
mount giant guard in stone about it; 
and the weird Dogs of Fo keep watch 
before it, as before the temples of the 
gods. 



II Hill r»l 



The Tradition of the Tea-Plant 



Sang a Chinese heart fourteen hundred 
years ago : — 

There is Somebody of whom I am thinking. 

Far away there is Somebody of whom 1 
am thinking. 

A hundred leagues of mountains lie be- 
tween us : — 

Yet the same Moon shines upon us, and 
the passing Wind breathes upon us both. 



THE TRADITION OF THE 
TEA-PLANT 

" Good is the continence of the eye ; 
Good is the continence of the ear ; 
Good is the continence of the nostrils ; 
Good is the continence of the tongue ; 
Good is the continence of the body ; 
Good is the continence of speech ; 
Good is all. ..." 

AGAIN the Vulture of Temptation 
.zV. soared to the highest heaven of 
his contemplation, hringing his soul 
down, down, reeling and fluttering, 
back to the World of Illusion. Again 
the memory made dizzy his thought, 
like the perfume of some venomous 
flower. Yet he had seen the bayadere 
for an instant only, when passing 
through Kasi upon his way to China, 
— to the vast empire of souls that 



ii8 Tradition of the Tea-Plant 

thirsted after the refreshment of Bud- 
dha's law, as sun-parched fields thirst 
for the life-giving rain. When she 
called him, and dropped her little gift 
into his mendicant's bowl, he had 
indeed lifted his fan before his face, 
yet not quickly enough ; and the pen- 
alty of that fault had followed him a 
thousand leagues, — pursued after him 
even into the strange land to which 
he had come to bear the words of the 
Universal Teacher. Accursed beauty! 
surely framed by the Tempter of tempt- 
ers, by Mara himself, for the perdition 
of the just! Wisely had Bhagavat 
warned his disciples : " ye Gramanas, 
women are not to be looked upon! 
And if ye chance to meet women, ye 
must not suffer your eyes to dwell upon 
them ; but, maintaining holy reserve, 
speak not to them at all. Then fail 



Tradition of the Tea-Plant 119 

not to whisper unto your own hearts, 
* Lo, we are Cramanas, whose duty it 
is to remain uncontaminated by the 
corruptions of this world, even as the 
Lotos, which sufFereth no vileness to 
cling unto its leaves, though it blossom 
amid the refuse of the wayside ditch.'" 
Then also came to his memory, but 
with a new and terrible meaning, the 
words of the Twentieth-and-Third of 
the Admonitions : — 

**0f all attachments unto objects of 
desire, the strongest indeed is the atr- 
tachment to form. Happily, this pas- 
sion is unique; for were there any 
other like unto it, then to enter the 
Perfect Way were impossible." 

How, indeed, thus haunted by the 
illusion of form, was he to fulfil the 
vow that he had made to pass a night 
and a day in perfect and unbroken 



I20 Tradition of the Tea-Plant 

meditation? Already the night was 
beginning 1 Assuredly, for sickness of 
the soul, for fever of the spirit, there 
was no physic save prayer. The sun- 
set was swiftly fading out. He strove 
to pray : — 

'' the Jewel in the Lotos ! 

"Even as the tortoise withdraweth 
its extremities into its shell, let me, 
Blessed One, withdraw my senses 
wholly into meditation I 

'' the Jewel in the Lotos ! 

' ' For even as rain penetrateth the 
broken roof of a dwelling long unin- 
habited, so may passion enter the soul 
uninhabited by meditation. 

'' the Jewel in the Lotos ! 

"Even as still water that hath de- 
posited all its slime, so let my soul, 
Tathagata, be made pure! Give 
me strong power to rise above the 



Tradition of the Tea-Plant 121 

world, Master, even as the wild bird 
rises from its marsh to follow the path- 
way of the Sun ! 

"0 the Jewel in the Lotos ! 

"By day shineth the sun, by night 
shineth the moon ; shineth also the 
warrior in harness of war ; shineth 
likewise in meditations the Cramana. 
But the Buddha at all times, by night 
or by day, shineth ever the same, illu- 
minating the world. 

* * the Jewel in the Lotos ! 

*'Let me cease, thou Perfectly 
Awakened, to remain as an Ape in the 
World-forest, forever ascending and de- 
scending in search of the fruits of folly. 
Swift as the twining of serpents, vast 
as the growth of lianas in a forest, are 
the all-encircling growths of the Plant 
of Desire. 

'' the Jewel in the Lotos ! " 



122 Tradition of the Tea-Plant 

Vain his prayer, alas! vain also his 
invocation I The mystic meaning of the 
holy text — the sense of the Lotos, the 
sense of the Jew^el — had evaporated 
from the words, and their monotonous 
utterance uovnt served only to lend more 
dangerous definition to the memory 
that tempted and tortured him. 
the jewel in her ear! What lotos-bud 
more dainty than the folded flower 
of flesh, with its dripping of diamond- 
fire! Again he saw it, and the curve 
of the cheek beyond, luscious to look 
upon as beautiful brown fruit. How 
true the Two Hundred and Eighty- 
Fourth verse of the Admonitions ! — 
* ' So long as a man shall not have torn 
from his heart even the smallest rootlet 
of that liana of desire which draweth 
his thought toward women, even so 
long shall his soul remain fettered." 



Tradition of the Tea-Plant 128 

And there came to his mind also the 
Three Hundred and Forty-Fifth verse of 
the same blessed book, regarding fetters : 
**In bonds of rope, wise teachers 
have said, there is no strength ; nor in 
fetters of wood, nor yet in fetters of 
iron. Much stronger than any of these 
is the fetter of concern for the jewelled 
earrings of women/' 

** Omniscient Gotama ! " he cried, — 
* ' all-seeing Tathagata ! How multiform 
the consolation of Thy Word! how 
marvellous Thy understanding of the 
human heart! Was this also one of 
Thy temptations?— one of the myriad 
illusions marshalled before Thee by 
Mara in that night when the earth 
rocked as a chariot, and the sacred 
trembUng passed from sun to sun, 
from system to system, from universe 
to universe, from eternity to eternity?" 



124 Tradition of the Tea-Plant 

the jewel in her ear! The vision 
would not go! Nay, each time it 
hovered before his thought it seemed 
to take a warmer life, a fonder look, a 
fairer form ; to develop with his weak- 
ness ; to gain force from his enervation. 
He saw the eyes, large, limpid, soft, 
and black as a deer's ; the pearls in the 
dark hair, and the pearls in the pink 
mouth; the lips curling to a kiss, a 
flower-kiss ; and a fragrance seemed to 
float to his senses, sweet, strange, sopo- 
rific, — a perfume of youth, an odor of 
woman. Rising to his feet, with strong 
resolve he pronounced again the sacred 
invocation; and he recited the holy 
words of the Chapter of Impermanency : 

* ' Gazing upon the heavens and upon 
the earth ye must say. These are not 
permanent. Gazing upon the moun- 
tains and the rivers, ye must say, These 



Tradition of the Tea-Plant i25 

are not permanent. Gazing upon the 
forms^ and upon the faces of exterior 
beings, and beholding their growth and 
their development, ye must say, These 
are not permanent/' 

And nevertheless I hovv^ svv^eet illu- 
sion! The illusion of the great sun; 
the illusion of the shadow-casting hills ; 
the illusion of waters, formless and 
multiform; the illusion of — Nay, nay! 
what impious fancy! Accursed girl! 
yet, yet! why should he curse her? 
Had she ever done aught to merit 
the malediction of an ascetic? Never, 
never! Only her form, the memory 
of her, the beautiful phantom of her, 
the accursed phantom of her! What 
was she? An illusion creating illu- 
sions, a mockery, a dream, a shadow, 
a vanity, a vexation of spirit! The 
fault, the sin, was in himself, in his 



126 Tradition of the Tea-Plant 

rebellious thought, in his untamed 
memory. Though mobile as water, in- 
tangible as vapor. Thought, neverthe- 
less, may be tamed by the Will, may 
be harnessed to the chariot of Wis- 
dom — must be I — that happiness be 
found. And he recited the blessed 
verses of the ' ' Book of the Way of the 
Law" : — 

''All forms are only temporary.'* 
When this great truth is fully com- 
prehended by any one, then is he de- 
livered from all pain. This is the Way 
of Purification. 

''All forms are subject unto pain.'' 
When this great truth is fully compre- 
hended by any one, then is he delivered 
from all pain. This is the Way of 
Purification. 

"All forms are without substantial 
reality." When this great truth is fully 



Tradition of the Tea-Plant 127 

comprehended by any one, then is he 
deHvered from all pain. This is the 
way of . . . 

Her form, too, unsubstantial, unreal, 
an illusion only, though comeliest of 
illusions? She had given him alms I 
Was the merit of the giver illusive 
also, — illusive like the grace of the 
supple fingers that gave? Assuredly 
there were mysteries in the Abhidharma 
impenetrable, incomprehensible 1 . . . 
It was a golden coin, stamped with the 
symbol of an elephant, — not more of 
an illusion, indeed, than the gifts of 
Kings to the Buddha! Gold upon her 
bosom also, less fine than the gold of 
her skin. Naked between the silken 
sash and the narrow breast-corslet, her 
young waist curved glossy and pliant 
as a bow. Richer the silver in her 



128 Tradition of the Tea-Plant 

voice than in the hollow pagals that 
made a moonlight about her ankles! 
But her smile! — the little teeth like 
flower-stamens in the perfumed blos- 
som of her mouth 1 



weakness I shame ! How had 
the strong Charioteer of Resolve thus 
lost his control over the wild team of 
fancy! Was this languor of the Will 
a signal of coming peril, the peril of 
slumber ? So strangely vivid those fan- 
cies were, so brightly definite, as about 
to take visible form, to move with fac- 
titious life, to play some unholy drama 
upon the stage of dreams ! "0 Thou 
Fully Awakened!" he cried aloud, 
' * help now thy humble disciple to ob- 
tain the blessed wakefulness of perfect 
contemplation! let him find force to 
fulfil his vow I suffer not Mara to pre- 



Tradition of the Tea-Plant 129 

vail against him ! " And he recited the 
eternal verses of the Chapter of Wake- 
fulness : — 

* * Completely and eternally awake are 
the disciples of Gotama! Unceasingly, 
by day and night, their thoughts are 
fixed upon the Law^. 

' ' Completely and eternally awake are 
the disciples of Gotama ! Unceasingly, 
by day and night, their thoughts are 
fixed upon the Community. 

* ' Completely and eternally awake are 
the disciples of Gotama! Unceasingly, 
by day and night, their thoughts are 
fixed upon the Body. 

' ' Completely and eternally awake are 
the disciples of Gotama! Unceasingly, 
by day and night, their minds know 
the sw^eetness of perfect peace. 

" Completely and eternally awake are 
the disciples of Gotama ! Unceasingly, 



i3o Tradition of the Tea-Plant 

by day and night, their minds enjoy 
the deep peace of meditation." 

There came a murmur to his ears ; a 
murmuring of many voices, smothering 
the utterances of his own, Uke a tumult 
of waters. The stars went out before 
his sight; the heavens darkened their 
infinities : all things became viewless, 
became blackness ; and the great mur- 
mur deepened, like the murmur of a 
rising tide; and the earth seemed to 
sink from beneath him. His feet no 
longer touched the ground ; a sense of 
supernatural buoyancy pervaded every 
fibre of his body : he felt himself float- 
ing in obscurity; then sinking softly, 
slowly, like a feather dropped from the 
pinnacle of a temple. Was this death? 
Nay, for all suddenly, as transported by 
the Sixth Supernatural Power, he stood 



Tradition of the Tea-Plant i3i 

again in light, — a perfumed, sleepy 
light, vapory, beautiful, — that bathed 
the marvellous streets of some Indian 
city. Now^ the nature of the murmur 
became manifest to him ; for he moved 
w^ith a mighty throng, a people of pil- 
grims, a nation of worshippers. But 
these VN^ere not of his faith ; they bore 
upon their foreheads the smeared sym- 
bols of obscene gods! Still, he could 
not escape from their midst ; the mile- 
broad human torrent bore him irresisti- 
bly with it, as a leaf is swept by the 
waters of the Ganges. Rajahs were 
there with their trains, and princes 
riding upon elephants, and Brahmins 
robed in their vestments, and swarms 
of voluptuous dancing-girls, moving 
to chant of kabit and damdri. But 
whither, whither? Out of the city 
into the sun they passed, between 



1 32 Tradition of the Tea-Plant 

avenues of banyan, down colonnades 
of palm. But whither, whither? 

Blue-distant, a mountain of carven 
stone appeared before them, — the 
Temple, lifting to heaven its wilder- 
ness of chiselled pinnacles, flinging 
to the sky the golden spray of its 
decoration. Higher it grew with ap- 
proach, the blue tones changed to 
gray, the outlines sharpened in the 
light. Then each detail became visi- 
ble: the elephants of the pedestals 
standing upon tortoises of rock; the 
great grim faces of the capitals ; the 
serpents and monsters writhing among 
the friezes ; the many-headed gods of 
basalt in their galleries of fretted niches, 
tier above tier; the pictured foulnesses, 
the painted lusts, the divinities of abom- 
ination. And, yawning in the sloping 
precipice of sculpture, beneath a fren- 



Tradition of the Tea-Plant i33 

zied swarming of gods and Gopia, — 
a beetling pyramid of limbs and bodies 
interlocked, — the Gate, cavernous and 
shadowy as the mouth of Siva, de- 
voured the living multitude. 

The eddy of the throng whirled him 
with it to the vastness of the interior. 
None seemed to note his yellow robe, 
none even to observe his presence. 
Giant aisles intercrossed their heights 
above him ; myriads of mighty pillars, 
fantastically carven, filed away to in- 
visibility behind the yellow illumina- 
tion of torch-fires. Strange images, 
weirdly sensuous, loomed up through 
haze of incense. Colossal figures, that 
at a distance assumed the form of ele- 
phants or garuda-birds, changed aspect 
when approached, and revealed as the 
secret of their design an interplaiting 
of the bodies of women ; while one 



1 34 Tradition of the Tea-Plant 

divinity rode all the monstrous alle- 
gories, — one divinity or demon, eter- 
nally the same in the repetition of the 
sculptor, universally visible as though 
self-multiplied. The huge pillars them- 
selves were symbols, figures, carnalities ; 
the orgiastic spirit of that worship lived 
and writhed in the contorted bronze 
of the lamps, the twisted gold of 
the cups, the chiselled marble of the 
tanks. . . . 

How far had he proceeded? He 
knew not; the journey among those 
countless columns, past those armies 
of petrified gods, down lanes of flick- 
ering lights, seemed longer than the 
voyage of a caravan, longer than his 
pilgrimage to China! But suddenly, 
inexplicably, there came a silence as 
of cemeteries ; the living ocean seemed 
to have ebbed away from about him, 



Tradition of the Tea-Plant i35 

to have been engulfed within abysses of 
subterranean architecture! He found 
himself alone in some strange crypt be- 
fore a basin, shell-shaped and shallow, 
bearing in its centre a rounded column 
of less than human height, whose smooth 
and spherical summit was wreathed 
with flowers. Lamps similarly formed, 
and fed with oil of palm, hung above 
it. There was no other graven image, 
no visible divinity. Flowers of count- 
less varieties lay heaped upon the pave- 
ment; they covered its surface like a 
carpet, thick, soft; they exhaled their 
ghosts beneath his feet. The perfume 
seemed to penetrate his brain, — a per- 
fume sensuous, intoxicating, unholy; 
an unconquerable languor mastered his 
will, and he sank to rest upon the floral 
ofierings. 

The sound of a tread, light as a 



1 36 Tradition of the Tea-Plant 

whisper, approached through the heavy 
stillness, with a drowsy tinkling of 
pagals, a tintinnabulation of anklets. 
All suddenly he felt glide about his 
neck the tepid smoothness of a woman's 
arm. She, she! his Illusion, his 
Temptation; but how transformed, 
transfigured! — preternatural in her love- 
liness, incomprehensible in her charm! 
Delicate as a jasmine-petal the cheek that 
touched his own ; deep as night, sweet 
as summer, the eyes that watched him. 
''Hearts-thief,'' her flower-lips whis- 
pered, — '' heart' s-thief, how have I 
sought for thee ! How have I found 
thee! Sweets I bring thee, my beloveds- 
lips and bosom; fruit and blossom. 
Hast thirst? Drink from the well of 
mine eyes! Wouldst sacrifice? I am 
thine altar ! Wouldst pray ? I am thy 
God!" 



Tradition of the Tea-Plant 187 

Their lips touched ; her kiss seemed 
to change the cells of his blood to 
flame. For a moment Illusion tri- 
umphed ; Mara prevailed ! . . . With a 
shock of resolve the dreamer aw^oke 
in the night, — under the stars of the 
Chinese sky. 

Only a mockery of sleep! But the 
vow^ had been violated, the sacred pur- 
pose unfulfilled! Humiliated, penitent, 
but resolved, the ascetic drevv^ from 
his girdle a keen knife, and with un- 
faltering hands severed his eyelids from 
his eyes, and flung them from him. 
*'0 Thou Perfectly Aw^akened I " he 
prayed, "thy disciple hath not been 
overcome save through the feebleness 
of the body ; and his vovnt hath been 
renev\^ed. Here shall he linger, with- 
out food or drink, until the moment 



1 38 Tradition of the Tea-Plant 

of its fulfilment." And having assumed 
the hieratic posture, — seated himself 
with his lower limbs folded beneath 
him, and the palms of his hands up- 
ward, the right upon the left, the left 
resting upon the sole of his upturned 
foot, — he resumed his meditation. 



Tradition of the Tea-Plant iSg 



DAWN blushed; day brightened. 
The sun shortened all the shadows 
of the land, and lengthened them again, 
and sank at last upon his funeral pyre 
of crimson-burning cloud. Night came 
and glittered and passed. But Mara 
had tempted in vain. This time the 
vow had been fulfilled, the holy pur- 
pose accomplished. 

And again the sun arose to fill the 
world with laughter of light ; flowers 
opened their hearts to him ; birds sang 
their morning hymn of fire worship ; 
the deep forest trembled with delight ; 
and far upon the plain, the eaves of 
many-storied temples and the peaked 
caps of the city-towers caught aureate 
glory. Strong in the holiness of his 
accomplished vow, the Indian pilgrim 



i4o Tradition of the Tea-Plant 

arose in the morning glow. He started 
for amazement as he Hfted his hands 
to his eyes. What! was everything 
a dream? Impossible! Yet now his 
eyes felt no pain ; neither were they 
Udless ; not even so much as one of 
their lashes was lacking. What marvel 
had been wrought? In vain he looked 
for the severed Hds that he had flung 
upon the ground ; they had mysteri- 
ously vanished. But lo! there where 
he had cast them two wondrous shrubs 
were growing, with dainty leaflets 
eyelid-shaped, and snowy buds just 
opening to the East. 

Then, by virtue of the supernatural 
power acquired in that mighty medita- 
tion, it was given the holy missionary 
to know the secret of that newly cre- 
ated plant, — the subtle virtue of its 
leaves. And he named it, in the Ian- 



Tradition of the Tea-Plant i^i 

guage of the nation to whom he brought 
the Lotos of the Good Law, **r£"; 
and he spake to it, saying: — 

' ' Blessed be thou, sweet plant, benefi- 
cent, life-giving, formed by the spirit 
of virtuous resolve I Lo ! the fame of 
thee shall yet spread unto the ends of 
the earth; and the perfume, of thy 
life be borne unto the uttermost parts 
by all the winds of heaven! Verily, 
for all time to come men who drink 
of thy sap shall find such refreshment 
that weariness may not overcome them 
nor languor seize upon them ; — neither 
shall they know the confusion of drow- 
siness, nor any desire for slumber in 
the hour of duty or of prayer. Blessed 
be thou I " 



1^2 Tradition of the Tea-Plant 



AND still, as a mist of incense, 
jL\. as a smoke of universal sacrifice, 
perpetually ascends to heaven from all 
the lands of earth the pleasant vapor 
of TE, created for the refreshment of 
mankind by the powder of a holy vow, 
the virtue of a pious atonement. 



n 
s> 



The Tale of the Porcelain-God 



It is written in the Fong-hchchin-tch*ouen, 
that whenever the artist Thsang-Kong was 
in doubt J he would look into the fire of the 
great oven in which his vases were baking, 
and question the Guardian-Spirit dwelling 
in the flame. And the Spirit of the Oven- 
fires so aided him with his counsels, that 
the porcelains made by Thsang-Kong were 
indeed finer and lovelier to look upon than 
all other porcelains. And they ivere baked 
in the years of Khang-hi, — sacredly called 
Jin Houang-ti. 



THE TALE OF THE PORCELAIN- 
GOD 

WHO first of men discovered the 
secret of the Kao-ling, of the 
Pe-tan-tse, — the bones and the flesh, 
the skeleton and the skin, of the beau- 
teous Vase? Who first discovered the 
virtue of the curd-v\^hite clay? Who 
first prepared the ice-pure bricks of 
tun: the gathered-hoariness of moun- 
tains that have died for age ; blanched 
dust of the rocky bones and the stony 
flesh of sun-seeking Giants that have 
ceased to be ? Unto w^hom was it first 
given to discover the divine art of 
porcelain ? 

Unto Pu, once a man, novsr a god, 
before wrhose snowy statues bow the 

lO 



1 46 Tale of the Porcelain-God 

myriad populations enrolled in the 
guilds of the potteries. But the place 
of his birth we know not ; perhaps the 
tradition of it may have been effaced 
from remembrance by that awful war 
which in our own day consumed the 
lives of twenty millions of the Black- 
haired Race, and obliterated from the 
face of the world even the wonderful 
City of Porcelain itself, — the City of 
King-te-chin, that of old shone like a 
jewel of fire in the blue mountain- 
girdle of Feou-liang. 

Before his time indeed the Spirit of 
the Furnace had being; had issued \ 
from the Infinite Vitality ; had become ^^ 
manifest as an emanation of the Su- 
preme Tao. For Hoang-ti, nearly five 
thousand years ago, taught men to 
make good vessels of baked clay; and 
in his time all potters had learned 



Tale of the Porcelain-God I^^ 

to know the God of Oven-fires, and 
turned their wheels to the murmuring 
of prayer. But Hoang-ti had been 
gathered unto his fathers for thrice ten 
hundred years before that man was 
born destined by the Master of Heaven 
to become the Porcelain-God. 

And his divine ghost, ever hovering 
above the smoking and the toiling of 
the potteries, still gives power to the 
thought of the shaper, grace to the 
genius of the designer, luminosity to 
the touch of the enamellist. For by 
his heaven-taught wisdom was the art 
of porcelain created; by his inspira- 
tion were accomplished all the mira- 
cles of Thao-yu, maker of the Kia-yu-ki, 
and all the marvels made by those who 
followed after him ; — 

All the azure porcelains called You- 
kouo-thien-tsing ; brilliant as a mirror. 



1 48 Tale of the Porcelain-God 

thin as paper of rice, sonorous as the 
melodious stone Khing, and colored, 
in obedience to the mandate of the 
Emperor Chi-tsong, *'blue as the sky 
is after rain, when viewed through the 
rifts of the clouds." These were, in- 
deed, the first of all porcelains, likewise 
called Tchai-yao, which no man, how- 
soever wicked, could find courage to 
break, for they charmed the eye like 
jewels of price; — 

And the Jou-yao, second in rank 
among all porcelains, sometimes mock- 
ing the aspect and the sonority of 
bronze, sometimes blue as summer 
waters, and deluding the sight with 
mucid appearance of thickly floating 
spawn of fish ; — 

And the Kouan-yao, which are the 
Porcelains of Magistrates, and third in 
rank of merit among all wondrous 



Tale of the Porcelain-God i/ig 

porcelains, colored with colors of the 
morning, — skyey blueness, with the 
rose of a great dawn blushing and 
bursting through it, and long-limbed 
marsh-birds flying against the glow; 

Also the Ko-yao, — fourth in rank 
among perfect porcelains, — of fair, 
faint, changing colors, like the body 
of a living fish, or made in the likeness 
of opal substance, milk mixed with 
fire; the work of Sing-I, elder of the 
immortal brothers Tchang ; 

Also the Ting-yao, — fifth in rank 
among all perfect porcelains, — white 
as the mourning garments of a spouse 
bereaved, and beautiful with a trickling 
as of tears, — the porcelains sung of by 
the poet Son-tong-po ; 

Also the porcelains called Pi-se-yao, 
whose colors are called *' hidden," be- 
ing alternately invisible and visible, like 



i5o Tale of the Porcelain-God 

^ r 

the tints of ice beneath the sun, — the 

porcelains celebrated by the far-famed 
singer Sin-in ; 

Also the wondrous Chu-yao, — the pal- 
lid porcelains that utter a mournful cry 
when smitten, — the porcelains chanted 
of by the mighty chanter, Thou-chao- 
ling; 

Also the porcelains called Thsin-yao, 
white or blue, surface-wrinkled as 
the face of water by the fluttering of 
many fins. ... And ye can see the 
fish! 

Also the vases called Tsi-hong-khi, 
red as sunset after a rain ; and the To- 
fai-khij fragile as the wings of the 
silkworm-moth, lighter than the shell 
of an egg; 

Also the Kia-tsing, — fair cups pearl- 
white when empty, yet, by some incom- 
prehensible witchcraft of construction, 



Tale of the Procelain-God i5i 

seeming to swarm with purple fish the 
moment they are filled with water ; 

Also the porcelains called Yao-pien, 
whose tints are transmuted by the 
alchemy of fire ; for they enter blood- 
crimson into the heat, and change 
there to lizard-green, and at last come 
forth azure as the cheek of the sky ; 

Also the Ki-tcheou-yao, which are all 
violet as a summer's night; and the 
Hing-yao that sparkle with the spark- 
lings of mingled silver and snow; 

Also the Sieouen-yao, — some ruddy 
as iron in the furnace, some diapha- 
nous and ruby-red, some granulated and 
yellow as the rind of an orange, some 
softly flushed as the skin of a peach ; 

Also the Tsoui-khi-yao, crackled and 
green as ancient ice is ; and the Tchou- 
fou-yao, which are the Porcelains of 
Emperors, with dragons wriggling and 



i52 Tale of the Porcelain-God 

snarling in gold ; and those yao that 
are pink-ribbed and have their angles 
serrated as the claws of crabs are; 

Also the Ou-ni-yao, black as the pupil 
of the eye, and as lustrous ; and the 
Hou-tien-yao , darkly yellow as the faces 
of men of India ; and the Ou-kong-yao , 
whose color is the dead-gold of autumn- 
leaves ; 

Also the Long-kang-yao , green as the 
seedling of a pea, but bearing also 
paintings of sun-silvered cloud, and of 
the Dragons of Heaven ; 

Also the Tching-hoa-yaOy — pictured 
with the amber bloom of grapes and the 
verdure of vine-leaves and the blossom- 
ing of poppies, or decorated in relief 
with figures of fighting crickets; 

Also the Khang-hi-nien-ts ang-yaOy ce- 
lestial azure sown with star-dust of 
gold; and the Khien-long-nien-thang-yao , 



Tale of the Porcelain-God i53 

splendid in sable and silver as a fervid 
night that is flashed w^ith lightnings. 

Not indeed the Long-Ouang-yao , — 
painted w^ith the lascivious Pi-hi, vs^ith 
the obscene Nan-niu-sse-sie, with the 
shameful Tchun-hoa, or *' Pictures of 
Spring" ; abominations created by com- 
mand of the wricked Emperor Moutsong, 
though the Spirit of the Furnace hid 
his face and fled away; 

But all other vases of startling form 
and substance, magically articulated, 
and ornamented with figures in relief, 
in cameo, in transparency, — the vases 
with orifices belled like the cups of 
flowers, or cleft like the bills of birds, 
or fanged like the jaws of serpents, or 
pink-lipped as the mouth of a girl ; the 
vases flesh-colored and purple-veined 
and dimpled, with ears and with ear- 
rings; the vases in likeness of mush- 



1 54 Tale of the Porcelain-God 

rooms, of lotos-flowers, of lizards, of 
horse-footed dragons woman-faced ; the 
vases strangely translucid, that sim- 
ulate the white glimmering of grains 
of prepared rice, that counterfeit the 
vapory lace-work of frost, that imitate 
the efflorescences of coral ; — 

Also the statues in porcelain of divin- 
ities: the Genius of the Hearth; the 
Long-pinn who are the Twelve Deities 
of Ink; the blessed Lao-tseu, born 
with silver hair; Kong-fu-tse, grasp- 
ing the scroll of written wisdom; 
Kouan-in, sweetest Goddess of Mercy, 
standing snowy-footed upon the heart 
of her golden lily ; Chi-nong, the god 
who taught men how to cook ; Fo, 
with long eyes closed in meditation, 
and lips smiling the mysterious smile 
of Supreme Beatitude; Cheou-lao, god 
of Longevity, bestriding his aerial steed, 



Tale of the Porcelain-God i55 

the white-winged stork ; Pou-t'ai, Lord 
of Contentment and of Wealth, obese 
and dreamy ; and that fairest Goddess 
of Talent, from whose beneficent hands 
eternally streams the iridescent rain 
of pearls. 



1 56 Tale of the Porcelain-God 

A ND though many a secret of that 
SjL matchless art that Pu bequeathed 
unto men may indeed have been for- 
gotten and lost forever, the story of the 
Porcelain-God is remembered ; and I 
doubt not that any of the aged Jeou-yen- 
liao-hong, any one of the old blind men 
of the great potteries, who sit all day 
grinding colors in the sun, could tell 
you Pu w^as once a humble Chinese 
VN^orkman, who grew to be a great 
artist by dint of tireless study and pa- 
tience and by the inspiration of Heaven. 
So famed he became that some deemed 
him an alchemist, who possessed the 
secret called White-and-Yellow, by which 
stones might be turned into gold ; and 
others thought him a magician, having 
the ghastly power of murdering men 
with horror of nightmare, by hiding 



Tale of the Porcelain-God 157 

charmed effigies of them under the tiles 
of their own roofs; and others, again, 
averred that he was an astrologer who 
had discovered the mystery of those 
Five Hing which influence all things, — 
those Powers that move even in the 
currents of the star-drift, in the milky 
Tien-ho, or River of the Sky. Thus, at 
least, the ignorant spoke of him; but 
even those who stood about the Son of 
Heaven, those whose hearts had been 
strengthened by the acquisition of wis- 
dom, wildly praised the marvels of his 
handicraft, and asked each other if there 
might be any imaginable form of beauty 
which Pu could not evoke from that 
beauteous substance so docile to the 
touch of his cunning hand. 

And one day it came to pass that 
Pu sent a priceless gift to the Celes- 
tial and August: a vase imitating the 



1 58 Tale of the Porcelain-God 

substance of ore-rock, all aflame with 
pyritic scintillation, — a shape of glitter- 
ing splendor with chameleons sprawl- 
ing over it; chameleons of porcelain 
that shifted color as often as the be- 
holder changed his position. And the 
Emperor, wondering exceedingly at 
the splendor of the work, questioned 
the princes and the mandarins concern- 
ing him that made it. And the princes 
and the mandarins answered that he 
was a workman named Pu, and that 
he was without equal among potters, 
knowing secrets that seemed to have 
been inspired either by gods or by de- 
mons. Whereupon the Son of Heaven 
sent his officers to Pu with a noble gift, 
and summoned him unto his presence. 

So the humble artisan entered before 
the Emperor, and having performed 
the supreme prostration, — thrice kneel- 



Tale of the Porcelain-God 159 

ing, and thrice nine times touching the 
ground with his forehead, — awaited 
the command of the August. 

And the Emperor spake to him, say- 
ing : ' ' Son, thy gracious gift hath found 
high favor in our sight; and for the 
charm of that offering we have be- 
stowed upon thee a reward of five 
thousand silver Hang. But thrice that 
sum shall be awarded thee so soon as 
thou shalt have fulfilled our behest. 
Hearken, therefore, matchless artifi- 
cer! it is now our will that thou 
make for us a vase having the tint and 
the aspect of living flesh, but — mark 
well our desire! — of flesh made to creep 
by the utterance of such words as poets 
utter, — flesh moved by an Idea, flesh hor- 
ripilated by a Thought! Obey, and 
answer not! We have spoken." 



i6o Tale of the Porcelain-God 



N 



OW Pu was the most cunning of 
all the P' ei-se-kong , — the men 
who marry colors together ; of all the 
Hoa-yang-kong , who draw the shapes of 
vase-decoration ; of all the Hoei-sse-kong , 
who paint in enamel ; of all the Tien- 
thsai-kong, who brighten color ; of all the 
Chao-lou-kong , who watch the furnace- 
fires and the porcelain-ovens. But he 
went away sorrowing from the Palace 
of the Son of Heaven, notwithstanding 
the gift of five thousand silver Hang 
which had been given to him. For 
he thought to himself : * * Surely the 
mystery of the comeliness of flesh, and 
the mystery of that by which it is 
moved, are the secrets of the Supreme 
Tao. How shall man lend the aspect 
of sentient life to dead clay ? Who save 
the Infinite can give soul?'* 



Tale of the Porcelain-God i6i 

Now Pu had discovered those witch- 
crafts of color, those surprises of grace, 
that make the art of the ceramist. He 
had found the secret of the feng-hong, 
the wizard flush of the Rose ; of the hoa- 
hong, the deHcious incarnadine ; of the 
mountain-green called chan-lou; of the 
pale soft yellow termed hiao-hoang-yeou ; 
and of the hoang-kin, which is the blaz- 
ing beauty of gold. He had found those 
eel-tints, those serpent-greens, those 
pansy-violets , those furnace-crimsons , 
those carminates and lilacs, subtle as 
spirit-flame, which our enamellists of 
the Occident long sought without suc- 
cess to reproduce. But he trembled at 
the task assigned him, as he returned 
to the toil of his studio, saying : * ' How 
shall any miserable man render in clay 
the quivering of flesh to an Idea, — the 
inexplicable horripilation of a Thought? 



II 



1 62 Tale of the Porcelain-God 

Shall a man venture to mock the magic 
of that Eternal Moulder by whose in- 
finite power a million suns are shapen 
more readily than one small jar might 
be rounded upon my wheel?'* 



Tale of the Porcelain-God i63 



YET the command of the Celestial 
and August might never be dis- 
obeyed ; and the patient workman strove 
with all his power to fulfil the Son of 
Heaven's desire. But vainly for days, 
for weeks, for months, for season after 
season, did he strive; vainly also he 
prayed unto the gods to aid him; 
vainly he besought the Spirit of the 
Furnace, crying: thou Spirit of 
Fire, hear me, heed me, help mel how 
shall I, — a miserable man, unable to 
breathe into clay a living soul, — how 
shall I render in this inanimate sub- 
stance the aspect of flesh made to creep 
by the utterance of a Word, sentient to 
the horripilation of a Thought?" 

For the Spirit of the Furnace made 
strange answer to him with whispering 



1 64 Tale of the Porcelain-God 

of fire: ** Vast thy faith, weird thy 
prayer! Has Thought feet, that man 
may perceive the trace of its passing? 
Canst thou measure me the blast of the 
Wind?'' 



ii 



Tale of the Porcelain-God i65 



NEVERTHELESS, with purpose 
unmoved, nine-and-forty times 
did Pu seek to fulfil the Emperor's 
command ; nine-and-forty times he 
strove to obey the behest of the Son of 
Heaven. Vainly, alas! did he consume 
his substance ; vainly did he expend his 
strength; vainly did he exhaust his 
know^ledge : success smiled not upon 
him; and Evil visited his home, and 
Poverty sat in his dw^elling, and Misery 
shivered at his hearth. 

Sometimes, when the hour of trial 
came, it was found that the colors had 
become strangely transmuted in the 
firing, or had faded into ashen pallor, 
or had darkened into the fuliginous 
hue of forest-mould. And Pu, behold- 
ing these misfortunes, made wail to the 



1 66 Tale of the Porcelain-God 

Spirit of the Furnace, praying : * * thou 
Spirit of Fire, how shall I render the 
likeness of lustrous flesh, the warm glow 
of living color, unless thou aid me ? " 

And the Spirit of the Furnace mys- 
teriously answered him with murmuring 
of fire : * * Canst thou learn the art of 
that Infinite Enameller who hath made 
beautiful the Arch of Heaven, — whose 
brush is Light; whose paints are the 
Colors of the Evening?'' 

Sometimes, again, even when the tints 
had not changed, after the pricked and 
labored surface had seemed about to 
quicken in the heat, to assume the 
vibratility of living skin, — even at the 
last hour all the labor of the workers 
proved to have been wasted; for the 
fickle substance rebelled against their 
efforts, producing only crinklings gro- 
tesque as those upon the rind of a 



Tale of the Porcelain-God 167 

withered fruit, or granulations like 
those upon the skin of a dead bird 
from which the feathers have been 
rudely plucked. And Pu wept, and 
cried out unto the Spirit of the Fur- 
nace: "0 thou Spirit of Flame, how 
shall I be able to imitate the thrill of 
flesh touched by a Thought, unless thou 
wilt vouchsafe to lend me thine aid?'' 

And the Spirit of the Furnace mys- 
teriously answered him with mutter- 
ing of fire : ' ' Canst thou give ghost 
unto a stone? Canst thou thrill with 
a Thought the entrails of the granite 
hills?'' 

Sometimes it was found that all the 
work indeed had not failed ; for the 
color seemed good, and all faultless 
the matter of the vase appeared to 
be, having neither crack nor wrink- 
ling nor crinkling ; but the pliant soft- 



1 68 Tale of the Porcelain-God 

ness of warm skin did not meet the 
eye; the flesh-tinted surface off'ered 
only the harsh aspect and hard glim- 
mer of metal. All their exquisite toil 
to mock the pulpiness of sentient sub- 
stance had left no trace; had been 
brought to nought by the breath of 
the furnace. And Pu, in his despair, 
shrieked to the Spirit of the Furnace: 
' ' thou merciless divinity ! thou 
most pitiless god! — thou whom I have 
worshipped with ten thousand sacri- 
fices! — for what fault hast tHou aban- 
doned me? for what error hast thou 
forsaken me? How may I, most 
wretched of men I ever render the as- 
pect of flesh made to creep with the 
utterance of a Word, sentient to the 
titillation of a Thought, if thou wilt 
not aid me?" 

And the Spirit of the Furnace made 



Tale of the Porcelain-God 169 

answer unto him with roaring of fire : 
* * Canst thou divide a Soul ? Nay / . . . 
Thy life for the life of thy work! — thy 
soul for the soul of thy Vase!'* 

And hearing these words Pu arose 
with a terrible resolve swelling at his 
heart, and made ready for the last and 
fiftieth time to fashion his work for the 
oven. 

One hundred times did he sift the 
clay and the quartz, the kao-ling and 
the tun; one hundred times did he 
purify them in clearest water ; one 
hundred times with tireless hands did 
he knead the creamy paste, mingling 
it at last with colors known only to 
himself. Then was the vase shapen 
and reshapen, and touched and re- 
touched by the hands of Pu, until 
its blandness seemed to live, until it 
appeared to quiver and to palpitate, 



170 Tale of the Porcelain-God 

as with vitality from within, as with 
the quiver of rounded muscle undulat- 
ing beneath the integument. For the 
hues of life were upon it and infiltrated 
throughout its innermost substance, 
imitating the carnation of blood-bright 
tissue, and the reticulated purple of the 
veins ; and over all was laid the en- 
velope of sun-colored Pe-kia-ho, the 
lucid and glossy enamel, half diapha- 
nous, even like the substance that it 
counterfeited, — the polished skin of a 
woman. Never since the making of the 
world had any work comparable to this 
been wrought by the skill of man. 

Then Pu bade those who aided him 
that they should feed the furnace well 
with wood of tcha; but he told his 
resolve unto none. Yet after the oven 
began to glow, and he saw the work 
of his hands blossoming and blushing 



Tale of the Porcelain-God 171 

in the heat, he bowed himself before 
the Spirit of Flame, and murmured: 
"0 thou Spirit and Master of Fire, I 
know the truth of thy words ! I know 
that a Soul may never be divided 1 
Therefore my life for the Hfe of my 
^ork! — my soul for the soul of my 
Vase I " 

And for nine days and for eight 
nights the furnaces were fed unceas- 
ingly with wood of tcha; for nine 
days and for eight nights men watched 
the wondrous vase crystallizing into 
being, rose-lighted by the breath of 
the flame. Now upon the coming of 
the ninth night, Pu bade all his weary 
comrades retire to< rest, for that the 
work was well-nigh done, and the suc- 
cess assured. **If you find me not 
here at sunrise," he said, *'fear not to 



172 Tale of the Porcelain-God 

take forth the vase ; for I know that 
the task will have been accomphshed 
according to the command of the Au- 
gust." So they departed. 

But in that same ninth night Pu 
entered the flame, and yielded up his 
ghost in the embrace of the Spirit 
of the Furnace, giving his life for the 
life of his work, — his soul for the soul 
of his Vase. 

And when the workmen came upon 
the tenth morning to take forth the 
porcelain marvel, even the bones of 
Pu had ceased to be ; but lo I the 
Vase lived as they looked upon it: 
seeming to be flesh moved by the 
utterance of a Word, creeping to the 
titillation of a Thought. And when- 
ever tapped by the finger it uttered 
a voice and a name, — the voice of its 
maker, the name of its creator : PU. 



Tale of the Porcelain-God 178 



AND the Son of Heaven, hearing of 
. these things, and viewing the mir- 
acle of the vase, said unto those about 
him : * ' Verily, the Impossible hath 
been w^rought by the strength of faith, 
by the force of obedience I Yet never 
was it our desire that so cruel a sac- 
rifice should have been; we sought 
only to know whether the skill of the 
matchless artificer came from the Di- 
vinities or from the Demons, — from 
heaven or from hell. Now, indeed, we 
discern that Pu hath taken his place 
among the gods." And the Emperor 
mourned exceedingly for his faithful 
servant. But he ordained that god- 
like honors should be paid unto the 
spirit of the marvellous artist, and that 
his memory should be revered forever- 



174 Tale of the Porcelain-God 

more, and that fair statues of him 
should be set up in all the cities of 
the Celestial Empire, and above all 
the toiling of the potteries, that the 
multitude of workers might unceas- 
ingly call upon his name and invoke 
his benediction upon their labors. 



':kmM 



Notes 



NOTES 

** The Soul of the Great BelV* -—The 
story of Ko-Ngai is one of the collection 
entitled Pe-Hiao-Tou-Choue, or *'A Hun- 
dred Examples of Filial Piety." It is very 
simply told by the Chinese narrator. The 
scholarly French consul, P. Dabry de 
Thiersant, translated and published in 
1877 a portion of the book, including the 
legend of the Bell. His translation is 
enriched with a number of Chinese draw- 
ings ; and there is a quaint little picture 
of Ko-Ngai leaping into the molten metal. 

" The Story of Ming-Yr — The singu- 
lar phantom-tale upon which my work is 
based forms the thirty-fourth story of the 
famous collection Kin-Kou-Ki-Koan, and 
was first translated under the title, "La 
Bacheliere du Pays de Chu," by the learned 
Gustave Schlegel, as an introduction to 
his publication (accompanied by a French 



178 Notes 

version) of the curious and obscene Mai- 
yu-lang-toU'tchen'hoa-koue'i(Leyden, 1877), 
which itself forms the seventh recital of 
the same work. Schlegel, Julien, Gard- 
ner, Birch, D'EntrecoUes, Remusat, Pavie, 
Olyphant, Grisebach, Hervey-Saint-Denys, 
and others, have given the Occidental world 
translations of eighteen stories from the 
Kin-Kou-Ki-Koan ; namely, Nos. 2, 3, 5, 
6, 7, 8, 10, i4, 19, 20, 26, 27, 29, 3o, 
3i, 34, 35, and 39. The Chinese work 
itself dates back to the thirteenth century ; 
but as it forms only a collection of the 
most popular tales of that epoch, many 
of the stories selected by the Chinese 
editor may have had a much more ancient 
origin. There are forty tales in the Kin- 
Koa-Ki-Koan. 

' ' The Legend of Tchi-Niu.'' — My autho- 
rity for this tale is the following legend 
from the thirty-fourth chapter of the Kan- 
ing-p'ien, or ' ' Book of Rewards and 
Punishments," — a work attributed to 
Lao-tseu, which contains some four hun- 



Notes lyg 

dred anecdotes and traditions of the most 
curious kind : — 

Tong-yong, who lived under the Han dynasty, was re- 

father he sold h,mself m order to obtain ... the where- 
wuhal to bury h,m and to build him a tomb. The Master 
of Heaven took p.ty on him, and sent the Goddess T.hi- 
INm to h.m to become his wife. She wove a piece of 
s.lk for h.m every day until she was able to buy his 
freedom, after which she gave him a son, and went back 
to heaven.- JulienS French Translation, p. ng. 

Lest the reader should suppose, how- 
ever, that I have drawn wholly upon my 
own imagination for the details of the 
apparition, the cure, the marriage cere- 
mony, etc., I refer him to No. XCVI of 
Giles's " Strange Stories from a Chinese 
btudio," entitled, " A Supernatural Wife " 
in which he will find that my narrative is 
at least conformable to Chinese ideas. 
(This story first appeared in "Harper's 
Bazar," and is repuWished here by 
permission.) 

"The Return of Yen-Tchin-King." ~ 
There may be an involuntary anachronism 
m my version of this legend, which is 



i8o Notes 

very pithily narrated in the Kan-ing-p'ien. 
No emperor's name is cited hy the homi- 
list ; and the date of the revolt seems to 
have been left wholly to conjecture. — 
Baber, in his " Memoirs," mentions one of 
his Mongol archers as able to bend a two- 
hundred-pound bow until the ears met. 

** The Tradition of the Tea-Plant.*' — 
My authority for this bit of folklore is the 
brief statement published by Bretschneider 
in the " Chinese Recorder" for 187 1 : — 

" A Japanese legend says that about a.d. 619, a Bud- 
dhist priest came to China, and, in order to dedicate his 
soul entirely to God, he made a vow to pass the day and 
night in an uninterrupted and unbroken meditation. After 
many years of this continual watching, he was at length 
so tired that he fell asleep. On awaking the following 
morning, he was so sorry he had broken his vow that he 
cut off both his eyelids and threw them upon the ground. 
Returning to the same place the following day he observed 
that each eyelid had become a shrub. This was the tea- 
shrub, unknown until that time." 

Bretschneider adds that the legend in 
question seems not to be known to the 
Chinese ; yet in vicAV of the fact that 
Buddhism itself, with all its marvellous 



Notes i8i 

legends, was received by the Japanese 
from China, it is certainly probable this 
legend had a Chinese origin, — subse- 
quently disguised by Japanese chronology. 
My Buddhist texts were drawn from Fer- 
nand Hu's translation of the Dhammapada, 
and from Leon Peer's translation from the 
Thibetan of the *' Sutra in Forty-two 
Articles." An Orientalist who should con- 
descend in a rare leisure-moment to glance 
at my work might also discover that I had 
borrowed an idea or two from the Sanscrit 
poet, Bhamini-Vilasa. 

•' The Tale of the Porcelain-God.'' — 
The good Pere d'Entrecolles, who first 
gave to Europe the secrets of Chinese 
porcelain-manufacture, wrote one hundred 
and sixty years ago : — 

*' The Emperors of China are, during their lifetime, the 
most redoubted of divinities ; and they believe th it noth- 
ing should ever stand in the way of their desires. . . . 

"It is related that once upon a time a certain Emperor 
insisted that some porcelains should be made for him 
according to a model which he gave. It was answered 
that the thing was simply impossible; but all such re- 
monstrances only served to excite his desire more and 



1 82 Notes 

more. . . . The ofiBcers charged by the demigod to super- 
vise and hasten the work treated the workmen with great 
harshness. The poor wretches spent all their money, 
took exceeding pains, and received only blows in return. 
One of them, in a fit of despair, leaped into the blazing 
furnace, and was instantly burnt to ashes. But the porce- 
lain that was being baked there at the time came out, 
they say, perfectly beautiful and to the satisfaction of the 
Emperor. . . . From that time, the unfortunate workman 
was regarded as a hero ; and his image was made the idol 
which presides over the manufacture of porcelain." 

It appears that D'EntrecoUes mistook 
the statue of Pou't'ai, God of Comfort, 
for that of the real porcelain-deity, as 
Jacquemart and others observe. This error 
does not, however, destroy the beauty of 
the myth ; and there is no good reason 
to doubt that D'EntrecoUes related it as it 
had been told him by some of his Chinese 
friends at King-te-chin. The researches 
of Stanislas Julien and others have only 
tended to confirm the trustworthiness 
of the Catholic missionary's statements 
in other respects ; and both Julien and 
Salve tat, in their admirable French render- 
ing of the King-te-chin'thao-loUy * * History 
of the Porcelains of King-te-chin " (a work 



Notes i83 

which has been of the greatest service to 
me in the preparation of my little story), 
quote from his letters at considerable 
length, and award him the highest praise 
as a conscientious investigator. So far as 
I have been able to learn, D'EntrecoUes 
remains the sole authority for the myth ; 
but his affirmations in regard to other 
matters have withstood the severe tests of 
time astonishingly well; and since the 
Tai-ping rebellion destroyed King-te-chin 
and paralyzed its noble industry, the value 
of the French missionary's documents and 
testimony has become widely recognized. 
In lieu of any other name for the hero 
of the legend, I have been obUged to 
retain that of Pou, or Pu, — only using 
it without the affix "t'ai," — so as to 
distinguish it from the deity of comfort 
and repose. 




Glossary 



^ 



GLOSSARY 

Abhidharma. — The metaphysics of Bud- 
dhism . Buddhist literature is classed into 
three great divisions, or " baskets"; the 
highest of these is the Abhidharma. . . . 
According to a passage in Spence Hardy's 
** Manual of Buddhism," the full com- 
prehension of the Abhidharma is pos- 
sible only for a Buddha to acquire. 

Cmu. — "House"; but especially the 
house of the dead, — a tomb. 

Cnu-SHA-Km. — The mandarin-orange. 

Cram ANA. — An ascetic; one who has sub- 
dued his senses. For an interesting 
history of this term, see Burnouf, — 
* ' Introduction a Thistoire du Buddhisme 
Indien." 

Damari. — A peculiar chant, of some- 
what licentious character, most com- 
monly sung during the period of the 



1 88 Glossary 

Indian carnival. For an account, at 
once brief and entertaining, of Hindoo 
popular songs and hymns, see Garcin de 
Tassy, — "Chants populaires de I'lnde." 

Dogs of Fo. — The Dog of Fo is one of 
those fabulous monsters in the sculptural 
representation of which Chinese art has 
found its most grotesque expression. It 
is really an exaggerated lion; and the 
symbolical relation of the lion to Bud- 
dhism is well known. Statues of these 
mythical animals — sometimes of a gran- 
diose and colossal execution — are placed 
in pairs before the entrances of temples, 
palaces, and tombs, as tokens of honor, 
and as emblems of divine protection. 

Fo. — Buddha is called Fo, Fuh, Fuh-ta, 
Hwat, Fat, in various Chinese dialects. 
The name is thought to be a corrup- 
tion of the Hindoo Bodh, or "Truth," 
due to the imperfect articulation of the 
Chinese. . . . It is a curious fact that 
the Chinese Buddhist liturgy is Sanscrit 
transliterated into Chinese characters, 



Glossary 189 

and that the priests have lost all rec- 
ollection of the antique tongue, — 
repeating the texts without the least 
comprehension of their meaning. 

FuH-YiN. — An official holding in Chinese 
cities a position corresponding to that 
of mayor in the Occident. 

FuNG-HOANG. — This allcgorical bird, cor- 
responding to the Arabian phoenix in 
some respects, is described as being five 
cubits high, having feathers of five dif- 
ferent colors, and singing in five modu- 
lations. . . . The female is said to sing 
in imperfect tones ; the male in perfect 
tones. The fung-hoang figures largely 
in Chinese musical myths and legends. 

GopiA {or Gopis). — Daughters and wives 
of the cowherds of Vrindavana, among 
whom Krishna was brought up after 
his incarnation as the eighth avatar of 
Vishnu. Krishna's amours with the 
shepherdesses, or Gopia, form the sub- 
ject of various celebrated mystical writ- 
ings, especially the Prem-Sdgar, or 



I go Glossary 

*' Ocean of Love" (translated by East- 
wick and by others); and the sensuous 
Gita-Govinda of the Bengalese lyric poet 
Jayadeva (translated into French prose 
by Hippolyte Fauche, and chastely 
rendered into English verse by Edwin 
Arnold in the "Indian Song of Songs"). 
See also Burnouf's partial translation of 
the Bhagavata Parana, and Theodore 
Pavie's " Krichna et sa doctrine." . . . 
The same theme has inspired some of 
the strangest productions of Hindoo art : 
for examples, see plates 65 and 66 of 
Moor's "Hindoo Pantheon" (edition of 
1861). For accounts of the erotic mys- 
ticism connected with the worship of 
Krishna and the Gopia, the reader may 
also be referred to authorities cited in 
Earth's " Religions of India" ; De Tassy's 
"Chants populaires de I'lnde"; and 
Lamairesse's ' ' Poesies populaires du Sud 
de rinde." 
Hao-Khieou-Tchouan. — This celebrated 
Chinese novel was translated into French 



\ 



Glossary 191 

by M. Guillard d'Arcy in 1842, and 
appeared under the title, ' * Hao-Khieou- 
Tchouan; ou, La Femme Accomplie." 
The first translation of the romance into 
any European tongue was a Portuguese 
rendering ; and the English version of 
Percy is based upon the Portuguese 
text. The work is rich in poetical 
quotations. 
Hei-song-che-tghoo. — **One day when 
the Emperor Hiuan-tsong of the Thang 
dynasty," says the Tao-kia-ping-yu-che, 
*' was at work in his study, a tiny Taoist 
priest, no bigger than a fly, rose out 
of the inkstand lying upon his table, 
and said to him : ' I am the Genius of 
ink; my name is Hei-song-che-tchoo 
[Envoy of the Black Fir\\ and I have 
come to tell you that whenever a true 
sage shall sit down to write, the Twelve 
Divinities of Ink \Long-pinn\ will appear 
upon the surface of the ink he uses.'" 
See "L'Encre de Chine," by Maurice 
Jametel. Paris, 1882. 



192 Glossary 

HoA-TGHAO. — The " Birthday of a Hun- 
dred Flowers" falls upon the fifteenth 
of the second spring-moon. 

Jade. — Jade, or nephrite, a variety of 
jasper, — called by the Chinese yuh, — 
has always been highly valued by them 
as artistic material. . . . In the* 'Book 
of Rewards and Punishments," there is 
a curious legend to the effect that Con- 
fucius, after the completion of his Hiao- 
King (" Book of Filial Piety"), having 
addressed himself to Heaven, a crimson 
rainbow fell from the sky, and changed 
itself at his feet into a piece of yellow 
jade. See Stanislas Julien's translation, 
p. 495. 

Kabit. — A poetical form much in favor 
with composers of Hindoo religious 
chants : the kabit always consists of 
four verses. 

Kao-ling. — Literally, '* the High Ridge," 
and originally the name of a hilly range 
which furnished the best quality of clay 
to the porcelain-makers. Subsequently 



Glossary igS 

the term applied by long custom to 
designate the material itself became 
corrupted into the word now familiar in 
all countries, — kaoHn. In the language 
of the Chinese potters, the kaolin, or 
clay, was poetically termed the *' bones," 
and the tan, or quartz, the " flesh" of 
the porcelain ; while the prepared bricks 
of the combined substances were known 
as pe-tun-tse. Both substances, the in- 
fusible and the fusible, are productions 
of the same geological formation, — 
decomposed feldspathic rock. 
Kas/ {or Varanasi). — Ancient name of 
Benares, the " Sacred City," believed 
to have been founded by the gods. It 
is also called ' ' The Lotos of the World." 
Barth terms it ' ' the Jerusalem of all 
the sects both of ancient and modern 
India.' It still boasts two thousand 
shrines, and half a miUion images of 
divinities. See also Sherring's '* Sacred 
City of the Hindoos." 
KiANG-Kou-jiN. — Literally, the ** tell-old- 
i3 



1 94 Glossary 

story-men." For a brief account of 
Chinese professional story-tellers, the 
reader may consult Schlegel's entertain- 
ing iatroduction to the Mai-ya-lang-to li- 
te he n-hoa-kouei. 

Km. — The most perfect of Chinese mu- 
sical instruments, also called *' the 
Scholar's Lute." The word kin also 
means "to prohibit"; and this name 
is said to have been given to the instru- 
ment because music, according to Chi- 
nese belief, * ' restrains evil passions, and 
corrects the human heart." See Wil- 
liams's " Middle Kingdom." 

KouEi. — Kouei, musician to the Emperor 
Yao, must have held his office between 
2857 and 2277 B. G. The extract se- 
lected from one of his songs, which 
I have given at the beginning of the 
*' Story of Ming-Y," is therefore more 
than four thousand years old. The 
same chant contains another remarkable 
fancy, evidencing Chinese faith in musi- 
cal magic : — 



Glossary 19^ 

"When I smite my [musical] stone, — 
Be it gently, be it strongly, — 

Then do the fiercest beasts of prey leap high for joy. 
And the chiefs among the public officials do agree 
among themselves." 

KwANG-GHAU-FU.— Literally, *'The Broad 
City/' — the name of Canton. It is 
also called "The City of Genii." 

Li. — A measure of distance. The length 
of the li has varied considerably in 
ancient and in modern times. The 
present is given by Williams as ten li 
to a league. 

Li-Sao. — "The Dissipation of Grief," one 
of the most celebrated Chinese poems 
of the classic period. It is said to have 
been written about 3i4 b. c, by Kiu- 
ping-youen, minister to the King of 
Tsou. Finding himself the victim of a 
base court-intrigue, Kiu-ping wrote the 
Li-Sao as a vindication of his character, 
and as a rebuke to the malice of his ene- 
mies, after which he committed suicide 
by drowning. . . . A fine French trans- 
lation of the Li-Sao has been made by 



196 Glossary 

the Marquis Hervey de Saint-Denys 
(Paris, 1870). 
Li-SHU. — The second of the six styles of 
Chinese writing, for an account of which 
see WiUiam's "Middle Kingdom." . . . 
According to various Taoist legends, the 
decrees of Heaven are recorded in the 
" Seal-character," the oldest of all ; and 
marks upon the bodies of persons killed 
by lightning have been interpreted as 
judgments written in it. The following 
extraordinary tale from the Kan-ing- 
p*ien affords a good example of the 
superstition in question : — 

Tchang-tchun was Minister of State under the reign of 
Hooi-tsong, of the Song dynasty. He occupied himself 
wholly in weaving perfidious plots. He died in exile at 
Mo-*vCheou. Some time after, while the Emperor was hunt- 
ing, there fell a heavy rain, which obliged him to seek 
shelter in a poor man's hut. The thunder rolled with 
violence ; and the lightning killed a man, a woman, and a 
little boy. On the backs of the man and woman were found 
red characters, which could not be deciphered; but on 
the back of the little boy the following six words could be 
read, written in Tchouen (antique) characters: Tse-tch'in- 
TcHANG-TGHUN-HEou-cmN, — which mean: "Child of the 
issue of Tchang-tchun, who was a rebellious subject." — Le 



Glossary 197 

Livre des Recompenses et des Peines, traduit par Stanislas 
jLilien, p. 446. 

Pagal. — The ankle-ring commonly worn 
by Hindoo women ; it is also called 
niipur. It is hollow, and contains loose 
bits of metal, which tinkle when the 
foot is moved. 

San-hien. — A three-stringed Chinese guitar. 
Its belly is usually covered with snake- 
skin. 

Siu-FAN-Ti. — Literally, "the Sweeping of 
the Tombs," — the day of the general 
worship of ancestors ; the Chinese ' ' All- 
Souls'." It falls in the early part of 
April, the period called ising-ming. 

Ta-chung sz'. — Literally, "Temple of the 
Bell." The building at Pekin so named 
covers probably the largest suspended 
bell in the world, cast in the reign of 
Yong-lo, about i4o6 a. d., and weigh- 
ing upwards of 120,000 pounds. 

Tao. — The infinite being, or Universal 
Life, whence all forms proceed : Liter- 
ally, "the Way," in the sense of the 



1 98 Glossary 

First Cause. Lao-tseu uses the term 
in other ways ; but that primal and most 
important philosophical sense which he 
gave to it is well explained in the cele- 
brated Chapter XXV. of the Tao-te-king . 
. . . The difTerence between the great 
Chinese thinker's conception of the First 
Cause — the Unknowable, — and^ the 
theories of other famous metaj)hysicians, 
Oriental and Occidental, is set forth with 
some definiteness in Stanislas Julien's 
introduction to the Tao-te-king, pp. x-xv. 
("Le Livre de la Voie et de la Yertu." 
Paris, i8i2.) 

Thang. — The Dynasty of Thang, which 
flourished between 620 and 907 a.d., 
encouraged literature and art, and gave 
to China its most brilliant period. The 
three poets of the Thang dynasty men- 
tioned in the second story flourished 
between 779 and 852 a. d. 

"Three Councillors." — Six stars of the 
Great-Bear constellation {lk — Xyu, — z/f), 
as apparently arranged in pairs, are thus 



Glossary 199 

called by the Chinese astrologers and 
mythologists. The three couples are 
further distinguished as the Superior 
Councillor, Middle Councillor, and In- 
ferior Councillor; and, together with 
the Genius of the Northern Heaven, 
form a celestial tribunal, presiding over 
the duration of human life, and deciding 
the course of mortal destiny. (Note by 
Stanislas Julien in " Le Livre des Re- 
compenses et des Peines.") 
TiEN-HiA. — Literally, ' ' Under-Heaven,'* 
or * ' Beneath-the-Sky," — one of the most 
ancient of those many names given by the 
Chinese to China. The name ' ' China" it- 
self is never applied by the Black-haired 
Race to their own country, and is supposed 
to have had its origin in the fame of 
the first Tsin dynasty, whose founder, 
Tsin Chi-Houang-ti, built the Great, or 
*' Myriad-Mile," Wall, twenty-two and 
a half degrees of latitude in length. . . . 
See Williams regarding occurrence of the 
name "China" in Sanscrit literature. 



200 Glossary 

TsiEN. — The well-known Chinese copper 
coin, with a square hole in the middle 
for stringing, is thus named. Accord- 
ing to quality of metal it takes from 
900 to 1,800 tsien to make one silver 
dollar. 

TsiNG-jiN. — " Men of Tsing." From very 
ancient times the Chinese have been 
wont to call themselves by the names of 
their famous dynasties, — Han-jin, " the 
men of Han"; Thang-jin, *'the men of 
Thang," etc. Ta Tsing Kwoh ('' Great 
Pure Kingdom") is the name given by 
the present dynasty to China, — accord- 
ing to which the people might call 
themselves Tsing-jin, or "men of Tsing." 
Williams, however, remarks that they 
will not yet accept the appellation. 

Verses (CmNESE). — The verses preceding 
"The Legend of Tchi-Niu" afford some 
remarkable examples of Chinese onomat- 
opoeia. They occur in the sixth strophe 
of Mien-mien, which is the third chant of 
the first section of Ta-ya, the Third Book 



Glossary 201 

of the Chi-King. (See G. Pauthler's 
French version.) Dr. Legge translates 
the strophe thus: — 

. . . Crowds brought the earth in baskets ; they threw 
it with shouts into the frames ; they beat it with responsive 
blows; they pared the walls repeatedly till they sounded 
strong. — Sacred Books of the East; Vol. III., The She- 
King, p. 384. 

Pauthicr translates the verses somewhat 
difTerently ; preserving the onomatopoeia 
in three of the lines. Houng-hoang are 
the sounds heard in the timber-yards 
where the wood is being measured ; from 
the workshops of the builders respond 
the sounds of tong-tong ; and the solid 
walls, when fully finished off, give out 
the sound of ping-ping. 

Yao. — "Porcelain." The reader who 
desires detailed information respecting 
the technology, history, or legends of 
Chinese porcelain-manufacture should 
consult Stanislas Julien's admirable ' ' Ilis- 
toire de la Porcelaine Chinoise" (Paris, 
1 85 6). With some trifling exceptions. 



202 Glossary 

the names of the various porcelains 
cited in my "Tale of the Porcelain-God" 
were selected from Julien's work. 
Though oddly musical and otherwise 
attractive in Chinese, these names lose 
interest by translation. The majority 
of them merely refer to centres of manu- 
facture or famous potteries : Chou-yaOy 
"porcelains of Chou"; Hong-icheoa- 
yao, ' ' porcelains of Hong-tcheou " ; Jou- 
yaOy "porcelains of Jou-tcheou"; 
Ting-yao, ' * porcelains of Ting-tcheou " ; 
Ko-yao, * ' porcelains of the Elder Brother 
[Thsang] " ; Khang-hi-nien-t' sang-yao, 
* ' porcelains of Thsang made in the reign 
of Khang-hi." Some porcelains were 
distinguished by the names of dynasties, 
or the titles of civic office holders ; such 
as the celebrated Tch'ai-yao, "the por- 
celains of Tch'ai" (which was the name 
of the family of the Emperor Chi-tsong) ; 
and the Kouan-yao, or "Porcelains of 
Magistrates." Much more rarely the 
names refer directly to the material or 



Glossary 203 

artistic peculiarity of porcelains, — as 
Ou-ni-yaOy the " black-paste porcelains," 
or Pi-se-yao, the ** porcelains of hidden 
color." The word khi, sometimes sub- 
stituted for yao in these compound 
names, means *' vases"; as Jou-khi, 
*' vases of Jou-tcheou"; Kouan-khi, 
"vases for Magistrates." 




STORIES AND SKETCHES 
OF JAPAN 

By LAFCADIO HEARN 

In Ghostly Japan A Japanese Miscellany 

Exotics and Retrospectives Shadowings 

New Popular Editions. Illustrated. l6mo 
4 VOLS. IN BOX, 15.00 

IN GHOSTLY JAPAN 

Illustrated. l6mo. $1.25. Original Edition. l2mo. $2.00 

CONTENTS 

Fragment Ululation 

Furisode Bits of Poetry 

Incense Japanese Buddhist Proverbs 

A Story of Divination Suggestion 

Silkworms Ingwa-Banashi 

A Passional Karma Story of a Tengu 

Footprints of the Buddha At Yaidzu 

Thoughts and dreams and observations that are ex- 
quisite beyond words. Almost more than any previous 
work, these sketches take one into the very heart of 
Japanese life. — New Orleans 2'imes-Democrat. 

The treatise on incense is a revelation. ... No one 
but a poet of the rarest imagination could comprehend 
the significance and beauty of these old Japanese 
romances and legends. — Brooklyn Life. 



WORKS OF LAFCADIO HEARN 

EXOTICS AND RETROSPECTIVES 

Illustrated. l6mo. $1.2$ 

CONTENTS 
Exotics Betrospective$ 

Fuji-No-Yama First Impressions 

Insect-Musicians Beauty is Memory 

A Question in the Zen Texts Sadness in Beauty 
Buddhist Literature of the Parfum de Jeunesse 

Dead Azure Psychology 

Frogs A Serenade 

Of Moon-Desire A Red Sunset 

Frisson 

Vespertina Cognitio 
The Eternal Haunters 

If one were to attempt any adequate quotation, he 
would quote the entire book. It is one to be lived with. 
— Lilian Whiting, in the Chicago Inter-Ocean. 

It has the deep azure coloring of Fuji-San, the sacred 
mountain ; it utters the chirping note of Suzumushi, the 
caged insect ; it is as melodious as Kajika, the singing 
frog, and is altogether lovely. — Literary World. 

Full of that wonderful power of vivid portrayal and 
of poetic fancy that makes his work always unique. — 
New Orleans Picayune. 

The essays in the latter portion of the book, which are 
grouped under the heading of •' Retrospectives," are 
psychological and aesthetic in character, and have a deli- 
cacy and a subtlety that are delightful — Brooklyn Life. 



l.i'Fe21 



